CODE: RIDER
by Kamen Rider Chrome
Summary: My first attempt at a Code Lyoko fic. This is just an experiment. Needs suggestions and whatnot. Pls, put them on the review, PM or forum. Anyway, a new kid appears as well as a new enemy. Rewrote chap 1
1. The New Kid and New Enemy

XANA had finally been defeated, the demonic AI stopped once and for all and closing the final chapter of the children's adventures. They then returned to their normal lives.

Ulrich finally had time to improve his school work. He could finally rake up some solid A's with the help of his friends. His father was still stern and expected the best of him but had started to mellow out. This maybe because of Ulrich's improved performance or that both of them had started to understand each other. Of course, with William in the group, he still had problems, especially since both of them were after the same girl.

William felt guilt for all the things that he'd done to the because of XANA and attempted to make things right. Of course, he wasn't going to give up anytime soon and made sure Ulrich and Yumi knew that.

Odd was still, well, Odd. He was still a flirt and loved dating girls and a jokester. He still kept his playful attitude and sense of humor. Though, he was starting to mature a bit. Well, a _bit_.

Aelita was still depressed over her father's sacrifice but with her friends, especially Jeremie, by her side she didn't feel so lonely as she used to be.

Jeremie was still their computer expert and tutored Odd and Ulrich, despite the former's lazy attitude. Odd usually lost focus and fell asleep after the first 5 minutes.

Yumi still played big sister to the group. However, her feelings for Ulrich had grown. She did want to tell him but she was nervous and couldn't bring out the nerve to just ask him out. William still flirted with her, much to her chagrin and Ulrich's ire. He was a friend through so she tolerated his attempts, despite the number of times Ulrich would imagine him being at the end of his swords.

With XANA gone they could return to their normal lives…or at least, that was what they thought.

* * *

The factory, now completely abandoned after the Lyoko Warriors' final adventure, stood eerily. Nothing had changed much since. This was where the Lyoko Warriors would counter all of Xana's attacks and save the world before using a 'Return to the Past' to undo all of the damages plus erase the memories of other people.

Deep underground was the computer lab and console where Jeremie would monitor the others and deeper still was the scanner room. Finally, at the lowest levels was the deactivated super computer where it all began and now ended.

Or did it truly end?

A purple surge of electricity traveled through the wires that were connected to the supercomputer and then straight into the machine itself. It glowed purple as the switch flipped itself.

Back in the lab, the monitors all turned back on and on them were a familiar malevolent eye symbol. Slowly, the eye morphed into a different symbol, this time resembling a purple demonic skull with sharp fangs and horns.

Suddenly, there was an ominous laughing sound before all the monitors faded out.

* * *

It was the weekend and a good time for rest, and relaxation. Down on the field, a soccer ball sailed past Nicolas' head and straight into a goal where a brunette boy missed catching it.

"Oh, yeah!" William cheered as both he and Ulrich shared a high five. "Another one for the team!"

Smiling, Ulrich agreed, "You said it."

After XANA's destruction, both William and Ulrich had a bit of a chat. They both knew that the other had feelings for Yumi. Heck, everyone else knew but never commented. However, after what they've been through, they had started a sort of truce. Plus, they'd gained some sort of mutual respect for one another. Odd was leaning against the goal post, yawning as neither Harve nor Nicolas had scored a goal since the beginning of the game.

Meanwhile, Harve and Nicolas were receiving a verbal lashing from Sissi.

"Can't you two do anything right!? Honestly, I wonder to myself why I hang around you two!" Sissi scolded.

"Sorry, Sissi," Nicolas apologized, rubbing the base of his neck.

"Sorry does not cut it!" Sissi growled. She picked up the ball and threw it aside angrily.

"Well, some things just never change," Yumi commented as she stood on the sidelines with Aelita and Jeremie, the latter two on a bench. Jeremie, as usual, had a computer on his lap. "Jeremie, you can just take your eyes off the computer and watch the game."

"Sorry, Yumi, but old habits do die hard," Jeremie chuckled. "I'm just doing some surfing, that's all."

"Jeremie, XANA's gone, the Earth is safe," Yumi told him. '_Plus, you got the girl,_' the Japanese girl added in her mind.

"I'm just trying to see if we may be able to save Franz Hopper," Jeremie said.

"My father sacrificed himself, I know," Aelita spoke sadly, "But I still feel that he may be out there somewhere."

"Well, never lose hope," Yumi said.

Suddenly, loud hip-hop music began to play, catching everyone's attention.

"Hey, cool song!" Odd snapped his fingers.

"But where's it coming from?" Ulrich asked.

William looked over and pointed, "I'm thinking _that _guy." Everyone turned to look.

Jumping, more like dancing, into the scene was a kid they'd never seen before. He wore a black t-shirt with red Japanese writing on it over a blue hoodie, camouflage cargo pants and sneakers. He also had an iPod clipped to his belt with a pair of headphones around his neck, music blaring from them. The music was loud and fast, not to mention Japanese. His hair was red, messy and spiky and his eyes were emerald green. The ball rolled to his feet and he stopped dancing. At the same time the music stopped.

He looked up at everyone and snapped his fingers, pointing at them, "Can I play with you now?" The rest of the kids stared at the new one with curious and strange stares. He tilted his head to the side, cupping his ear, as he waited for an answer. He then said, "I don't hear an answer!"

"Hey, the more the merrier!" Odd said, smiling. "Sides, I need to get back to my room for some _stuff_." Actually, he wanted to go check up on Kiwi, his pet dog.

"I think I prefer playing offense," he said, "So, can I?"

"What's your name?" William asked.

"Leonard Drake," the boy, Leonard, introduced himself, "Friends call me Leo. Just transferred here." He then asked, "So, can I? I don't hear an answer!"

* * *

In the city, things started to go a little haywire among electrical appliances. Vacuum cleaners, shavers, lawnmowers and basically anything that ran on electricity began to attack their human users. On numerous television screens and computer monitors flashed XANA's eyes which slowly morphed into the purple demonic skull. The skull cackled at the humans' misfortune as it continued to cause chaos by possessing electrical appliances.

* * *

"And GOAL!!" Leo cheered as he sent the ball flying into the goal again. The ball smashed into the net and rolled onto the ground. "And Leo Drake does it again!"

Ulrich had taken Odd's place as the goal keeper but since neither Herve nor Nicolas could keep the ball, he just squatted down and relaxed. Actually, he was getting a bit bored. "Ha…" Ulrich sighed as his eyes wandered over to Yumi. He smiled a bit at her. She took notice of this and smiled back, a bit of pink on her cheeks.

Herve growled at Leo. The new boy didn't seem to be taking the game seriously and was laughing childishly from his victory. William slapped Leo on the back.

"Hey, sweet moves!" William congratulated.

"Thanks," Leo said. "Hey, how about we take 5 before the second half?" Nobody complained. Leo decided to see with the Lyoko gang. Yumi read the writing on Leo's shirt as he drank from a bottle of water.

"Ore sanjou?" she said, quirking an eyebrow.

"What does that mean?" William asked.

Leo translated, "I have arrived." He added, "Which I have, haven't I?"

"So, you're into hip-hop, huh?" Ulrich asked, remembering the way Leo danced his way into the field. He pointed at the iPod and the headphones around Leo's neck.

"Hey, the music is fast and fun to dance too. I ain't into those classical stuff and rock and roll is just too loud for me," Leo replied. "So, anything else to do around this place?"

"Not much," Ulrich shrugged. "But you might wanna check around."

"OK," Leo said. He checked his watch. "Oops, sorry about that. Looks like I won't be able to play anymore."

"What?" William questioned.

"Why's that?" Aelita asked, curiously.

Leo winked and said, "Well, cutie-pie, I got things to do!" He leapt onto his feet and did a twirl, "See ya later!" He then pushed the play button on his Ipod before dancing away towards the dorm. The rest of the Lyoko gang looked at him strangely.

"Strange guy," Ulrich said.

"We have Odd," Yumi reminded.

"Two Odds," William shuddered. "Scary thought."

* * *

The door swung open and Leo jumped into the room before heading towards his computer. He sat down and did a bit of a spin on it before stopping to face his computer. He turned it on and it began to start up.

Leo's room was like the other ones in the dorm room. He didn't have a roommate so he had the entire room to himself, much to his delight. He had more space to dance. On the walls were posters of his favorite super heroes, the Kamen Riders. His bookshelf was filled with DVD's of all the Kamen Rider series, from the classics to the current. The carpet on the floor seemed tie-dyed as well.

Rap music began to play from his computer's speakers as his fingers typed all over the keyboard. However, this time, something else happened.

On his screen flickered an eye symbol that he'd never seen before. "Huh? What's that?" Suddenly, his computer began to spark and then he was thrown across the room, slamming against the wall with a loud thud. "Ow…" he groaned as he looked up at his monitor to see the strange eye morphing into a demonic skull. "OK, not normal."

Oh, Leo, you have no idea.

* * *

Jeremie and Aelita gasped when they saw the eye of XANA on Jeremie's laptop. The others were surprised as well.

"XANA!?" William exclaimed, shocked.

"No way!" Yumi added. "We destroyed him."

"Let's get to the factory," Ulrich said. "If he's back then we got trouble."

"Call Odd too," Jeremie said. "We're going to need him." If he had taken time to look at his laptop again, he would've seen a purple demonic skull staring right at him before the screen went blank.

* * *

Leo watched though his window as the Lyoko gang headed into the woods withing Kadic, fast. Meanwhile, electrical malfunctions continued to occur. Some poor kid just got attacked by his own electric toothbrush. Also,

"Where are they going?" Leo asked himself. There was a sudden impulse telling to follow them and being the kind of guy he was he would always follow said impulses. He ran out the dorm room and locked the door.

He followed them from afar and watched as Odd lifted up a manhole covered. They then went down the hole with Odd being the last to close the hole. Leo waited for a few minutes before doing the same. He ended up in the sewers and could hear where the group had gone. Following his gut, he ran after them.

* * *

Somewhere in the woods was someone sitting alone, strumming a guitar. Most of his body was cloaked in shadows. A strange beeping came to his attention. He pulled out a PDA from his pocket. He saw XANA's eye morph into the demonic skull. The man's shadow covered face gave a smirk. "So," he began, "It looks like things are starting to get interesting." He looked around to make sure he was alone. He moved his wrist into the light. There was a strange metallic device on it. "Time for the hunt to begin." He pulled out a card and swiped it through the device. "Digitize!" he exclaimed as his body slowly vanished.

* * *

Leo found himself in the abandoned factory. He had been following the others but now lost track of them. He went towards the elevator and pressed the button, thinking, '_Maybe they went down here._'

The doors closed and he went downwards. The elevator door opened again and this time he heard a flurry of tapping echoing in the room. It took him some time but he finally found the source, and needless to say, he was shocked. There was Jeremie sitting in a chair in front of several monitors with a holographic projection next to him. "Jeremie? Jeremie Belpois? What's going on here?"

"Leo?!" exclaimed the shocked Jeremie. "How did you get here?"

"I followed you," he said bluntly. "Now, what is this place? What's going on?"

"Right…" said Jeremie. "You may think I'm crazy but here's what's happening…" He then began to explain to Leo what exactly was going on.

* * *

In the virtual world called Lyoko, The Lyoko Warriors were battling an army of XANA's monsters in the mountain sector. There were Krabes, Bloks, Megatanks and Hornets firing at them Odd fired with his laser arrows as Yumi threw her fans at them. Aelita fired several energy fields at the monsters.

"OK, this is bad!" Ulrich grunted as he stabbed a Blok in the eye, destroying it. William was easily slicing through them, a look of glee on his face.

"Man, this feels great!" William smirked as he charged and slashed with his large sword.

There was an activated tower, but instead of red it glowed purple. Regardless, they had to deactivate it to stop whatever it was that was happening in the real world.

* * *

"OK, so you've been fighting a demonic AI bent on world domination and finally defeated it," Leo summarized Jeremie's explanation. "You're right, it is crazy."

"Well, we thought we beat XANA, but the super computer has reactivated somehow," Jeremie said.

"What if it's not XANA?" Leo asked. "Ever thought of that?"

"What makes you say that?" Jeremie asked and Leo pointed to one of the monitors, which displayed the eye of XANA morphing into a purple demonic skull. "Oh."

"You said XANA's logo was an eye. THAT does not look like an eye," Leo said to him.

Jeremie now became alarmed and attempted to contact the others, "Guys! Fall back! It's not XANA! It's something else!"

"_What?_" Ulrich's voice came out. "_You're kidding, right?_"

"_Are you sure, Jeremie?_" Aelita asked.

"_Don't joke, Einstein_," Odd said, worriedly.

"I don't care if you believe me or not," Jeremie said. "If this is a new threat then I need to pull you all out," Jeremie tapped furiously on the keyboard. "I'm starting the materialization process now." However, something went wrong.

"_Any minute now, Einstein_," Odd said.

"Something's wrong!" Jeremie panicked. "I can't rematerialize you!" His eyes went towards the screens. "Oh, no."

"_That does not sound good_," Yumi said.

"This thing just sent a virus that disabled your materialization," Jeremie informed.

"_What does that mean?_" William asked.

"It means that if you lose all your life points in Lyoko, you could disappear, for good!" The purple demonic skull laughed before vanishing from the screens. "Damn it!"

"Jeremie, you said that they need to deactivate the tower, right?" Leo asked. Jeremie nodded, but didn't see the point. "Well, if they deactivate it, they can stop everything that's going on."

"But how!?" Jeremie asked, "The others are taking a huge risk now. They've been through it before and I almost lost them. I need time to make a new anti-virus program!"

"Then do it!" Leo said and then he volunteered, "And send **me** to Lyoko!"

"What?" Jeremie stared.

"They need help, Jeremie!" Leo urged. "Send me there, now!" He was really insistent. The blonde genius looked at the screen. His friends' life points were going down dangerously low and if Aelita didn't deactivate the tower in time then they'd be lost forever, deleted permanently. "Jeremie, you need to trust me!"

"Alright!" Jeremie finally gave in. "Take the elevator and go down to the scanner room."

"Alright," Leo nodded. "And you won't regret this."

"I sure hope not," Jeremie sighed as Leo went down to the scanner room. Once there, he found the three cylindrical scanners. One of them opened and Leo entered before the door closed. Jeremie started the procedure.

"Transfer: Leo," Jeremie said as the scanner rings rose up Leo's body a 3D diagram of Leo's virtual form appeared on Jeremie's monitor. "Scanner: Leo." Jeremie then finished the procedure, as a gust of wind blew Leo's hair upwards."Virtualization." There was a bright flash as Leo's world turned white.

* * *

The Bloks, Megatanks and Krabes continued to rain fire on the Lyoko Warriors. Both William and Ulrich were both protecting the others by using their swords to deflect the shots.

"You tired yet, Ulrich?" William asked, teasingly.

"Not a chance, William," Ulrich retorted as they continued to block the shots. Odd and Yumi were with Aelita as they headed towards the tower. A swarm of Hornets were coming after them. Aelita got shot in the leg and fell.

"Aelita!" Yumi cried as she picked the pink haired girl up.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd commanded as he fired at the Hornets, deleting them as his shots hit. "Yup, I still got it!"

"Celebrate later!" Yumi scolded. "We need to get Aelita to the tower!"

"Gotcha!" Odd nodded before they all dashed towards the tower.

"I sure hope Jeremie can send some help," William huffed as he sliced a Krabe in half before slicing a Blok apart. "I don't know how many I can take."

Ulrich boasted, "I can do this all day," as he stabbed a Blok and watched it explode. A Megatank rolled up behind him and opened up before aiming. It was ready to fire a shot when…

"Rider Kick!" a new voice shouted as something fell out of the air and smashed into the Megatank, blowing it to pieces. Ulrich and William were surprised and stopped fighting. The monsters did the same as an unknown variable had entered Lyoko.

The boy was about their age and dressed in a black shirt with a red chestplate and matching black pants. He wore elbow length red gloves and matching knee high boots. There was a belt around his waist with a metal buckle housing a fan inside. Around his neck was a red scarf that went down to his waist. Worn over his eyes was a pair of red goggles that resembled insect eyes. A pair of antennae stuck out of his head. They recognized the red hair.

"Leo!?" William and Ulrich let out in surprise. It was the new kid.

"Talk later, fight now!" Leo shouted as he charged at the Bloks. They fired but the boy had the agility of a grasshopper as he leapt over the shots. The fan in his buckle began to spin as he pulled back a fist.

"Rider Punch!" he called out as he smashed his fist into the Blok, destroying it as it shattered apart. He turned to look at Ulrich and William who went back into fighting. "Well, hurry up you two. Aelita, Yumi and Odd are going to need us!"

Aelita was already close to the tower with Odd and Yumi's help when a hole opened up in front of them. A Tarantula and Creeper crawled out.

"Oh, not these things again," Odd groaned as he aimed and tried to fire, but no arrows came. "Hey, I'm out of arrows."

"Then it's up to us," Yumi said as she brandished her fans. She threw them but the Tarantula batted it away with one of its legs before firing at her.

"Energy Field!" Aelita called as she fired a counter shot, deflecting the shot and sending the Tarantula staggering. The Creeper opened its mouth and fired at the trio. William jumped in the way and deflected the shot back at the Creeper, blowing its head off and destroying it.

Ulrich shouted, "Triplicate!" and now there were three of him. The Ulrich trio dashed at the Tarantula and slashed it. It blew up in an instant.

Leo stayed behind and faced off against the remaining monsters. He reached down to his belt, where black objects were stuck flanking his belt, and detached them. He ducked under shot to his head before joining the two pieces together and throwing them into the air before reaching down to the final two pieces. He then leapt up and then combined the two joined pieces in between of the final two. A red blade appeared as he gripped his new sword. He landed a sliced a monster in half. "Here's my sure-kill attack! Part One! Extreme Slash!" Leo called as he swung his sword. The blade detached and then sliced at the monsters. He continued to swing as he decimated all of them. Satisfied, he rested the sword on his shoulder. He then said, mockingly, "From the beginning to the end, I am always at my climax!" He then ran towards the others.

Aelita had already entered the tower and floated up to the platform where a touch screen appeared. Her name appeared on it.

AELITA

She then touched it with her palm.

CODE

LYOKO

The tower then deactivated.

Outside, Leo was being welcomed to the group, much to Odd and Yumi's surprise.

"You followed us?" Yumi said in an accusatory tone.

"Hey, I was curious," Leo said playfully. "And I'm glad I did. Always wanted to be a superhero."

Aelita exited the tower, and was surprised to see Leo. "So, you know, huh?"

"Well, Jeremie just gave me the gist of it, but I knew I had to help," Leo said, touching one of his antennae. "Man, I look good."

"For a bug," Odd quipped, "But, hey, least you don't look like a big purple cat."

"But you have to swear to keep this a secret," Yumi said sternly to Leo.

"I swear," Leo said, raising his hand, "Or do you think I'm just stringing you along?" Yumi didn't respond.

Jeremie's voice came through, "_Guys, after Aelita deactivated the tower, the virus keeping you there just deleted itself. I'm ready to rematerialize you all._"

"Looks like everything-" began Odd before he was cut off. Everyone looked at him in shock. There was a large hole in his chest. His body then de-virtualized. Everyone was looking around in shock, trying to see where the attack came from. They then saw something approach them. They couldn't tell what it was, but they could tell it was humanoid. Its invisible body distorted the world around it. They then lost 'sight' of it. Yumi felt something stick to her back. William and Ulrich looked at it in shock. It appeared to be a bomb. They bomb then exploded, taking all three Lyoko Warriors out in one blast. Aelita and Leo looked around. They were the only two remaining.

"What's happening!?" asked Aelita, afraid. She felt a small prick in the back of her neck. She fell forward and devirtualized. Leo was now all alone, but not for long. He felt a piercing sensation in his stomach. He then felt it all through his body as twin serrated blades extended through his virtual body, causing him to devirtualize. The rippling figure who in a matter of moments dispatched all the Lyoko Warriors became visible. He was physically identical to one of the Predators from the film of the same name.

"Huh, not much of a hunt," said the Predator. He looked at his wrist computer. "He's not here." He swiped a card through the computer. "Return!" he exclaimed as his body devirtualized.

* * *

The scanner opened and Leo fell out of the machine, gasping. He saw that the others didn't look too pleased and he exclaimed, "What the hell!?"

Jeremie then decided it was time for a Return to the Past. They would discuss things later when the day restarted itself, "Return to the past, now!" he said before pressing down on the Enter key. A pillar of light rose up before engulfing everything in white.

* * *

The figure from before reappeared in the forest. He picked up his guitar and began strumming it again. "He wasn't in the mountains either. Damn," he cursed. He reached into his shirt and pulled out an onyx watch. "I'll find him… I have to." He then watched as the light came and engulfed everything. However, unlike others, he would not forget.

* * *

"Can't you two do anything right!? Honestly, I wonder to myself why I hang around you two!" Sissi scolded.

"Sorry, Sissi," Nicolas apologized, rubbing the base of his neck.

"Sorry does not cut it!" Sissi growled. She picked up the ball and threw it aside angrily.

"Well, some things just never change," Yumi commented as she stood on the sidelines with Aelita and Jeremie, the latter two on a bench. Jeremie, as usual, had a computer on his lap. "Jeremie, you can just take your eyes off the computer and watch the game."

"Sorry, Yumi, but old habits do die hard," Jeremie chuckled. "I'm just doing some surfing, that's all." They've had this conversation before. "And now we got a new threat."

"And a new member," Yumi told him. "Which should show up right now." Suddenly, loud hip-hop music began to play, catching everyone's attention. Yumi smirked. "Right on time."

"Hey, cool song!" Odd snapped his fingers. "And look who's here!" Leo was dancing into the scene, holding his boom-box on his shoulder.

The ball rolled to Leo's feet and he stopped dancing. At the same time the music stopped. He put down the boom-box.

He looked up at everyone and snapped his fingers, pointing at them, "Can I play with you now?" The rest of the kids stared at the new one with curious and strange stares. He tilted his head to the side as he waited for an answer. He then said, "I don't hear an answer!"

"Hey, the more the merrier!" Odd said, smiling.

Leo said, "So, can I?" he then added, "And by the way, I'm Leo Drake! So, can I play? I don't hear an answer!"

After the game, which they won, Leo and the others got together behind the school building.

"So, you're one of us now," Odd said.

"That's right!" Leo answered. "When I woke up I got this strange sense of déjà vu. I thought it was a dream but then when I saw you all I knew it wasn't." He asked, "So, what happened?"

"Jeremie here launched a Return to the Past," Aelita said, gesturing to the blonde genius.

"Return to the past?" Leo questioned, tilting his head in confusion. "What's that?"

"Basically, we can go back in time by one day. It undoes all the damage caused by XANA," Jeremie explained, "Only this time, we're not dealing with XANA anymore."

"A new threat, but same tactics," William said. "Taking control of towers to cause havoc on Earth."

"Well, if you need help, you can count on me," Leo grinned. "Let me tell you this; I am VERY strong."

"Strong or not, does anyone remember what devirtualized us?" Odd asked.

Jeremie told them, "There was something else but it just vanished from the monitor."

"Well, whatever it was, it was fast," Yumi said.

"And brutal," Ulrich said, remembering the explosion that devirtualized all three of them.

Now, the Lyoko Warriors had gained a new teammate, as well as a new enemy that has taken XANA's place. But, what of the mysterious Predator that devirtualized them. Well, if you want to know more, stay tune for the next chapter of…CODE RIDER!

"Hey, we haven't done your initiation yet!" Odd said, pointing at their newest member.

"There's an initiation?" Leo asked, blinking. William, Ulrich and Odd all shared evil grins. "Um…is this going to make me cry?" Leo whimpered.


	2. Straight From the Heart

It had been a few days since Leo met his new friends and entered the world of Lyoko, effectively joining their team of the secret world saviors known as the Lyoko Warriors. Within that time, Leo had gotten to know them all and become quite close to them. Although, there was a matter of distrust but Leo was confident that he'd gain their full trust eventually. It had only been one week and with this new nameless threat he had a lot of time to prove himself.

Today, Leo was going to meet his friends for breakfast. The 'initiation' was still etched in his mind. He had to hand to Odd; the kid sure was creative when it came to dares. In that week, aside from getting to know his new friends, they told him stories about their past exploits against the diabolical AI that went by the name of XANA. They claimed they had defeated the AI but now things had repeated themselves and now there was anew threat in their midst. Because of that, they were all keeping their eyes open for anything weird happening. When it did, they knew they would need to get to the factory post haste. He'd learnt about the secret short-cut in the sewers from them so he knew where he'd need to go when he needed to head to the factory.

Jeremie had been working nonstop trying to uncover this new enemy. They were yet to get even a name but they knew that not knowing its name was the least of their problems. Also, they were still trying to figure out what the thing that had devirtualized them was.

Leo put on a blue hoodie this time and then a black t-shirt with blue Japanese writing on it. This time he wore blue jeans instead of his camouflage pants. He clipped his iPod to his belt and slung the headphones around his neck. Checking his mirror, he snapped his fingers and pointed at his reflection, "May I string you along? Don't hear an answer!" He chuckled as he got out of his room and straight to the cafeteria for breakfast.

As soon as he left, the monitor of his computer turned on and a demonic skull flashed on it before vanishing.

* * *

Both Odd and Leo were the first at breakfast, sitting at the group's usual table. As usual, Odd had a mountain of food on his tray. Leo also had a large breakfast and ate just as much and fast as Odd.

"You know, Odd," Leo started, "I've only been in your group for a few days now and I've noticed a few things."

"Oh, do tell," Odd said, interested to hear his new friend's observation.

"OK, I'll make it quick," Leo said before he explained, "Ulrich and Yumi seem to like each other A LOT but it looks like they don't want to admit it to each other. I know they feel something more than friendship so what gives?"

"Well…" Odd shrugged. "Heck, I maybe a ladies' man but those two are a real strange case."

"Lovers who can't admit they love each other," Leo surmised.

"Well, they know they have feelings for one another," Odd said, "But then Yumi said that they should just be friends."

"Ouch," Leo winced. "That must've hurt. It's never good when a girl you like, as in really like, wants to be **just** friends."

"You're telling me," Odd agreed. "And Ulrich just agreed, but I know it ain't that easy."

"That I have to agree with you," Leo nodded.

"And then there's William," Odd said.

"The third wheel?" Leo questioned. "I noticed."

"Yup," Odd said. "William got the hots for Yumi too and isn't afraid to show it. Also, there's another issue."

"The team, right?" Leo said. "I mean, if Yumi gets together with either Ulrich or William, the team may no work so well with Ulrich and William fighting over her."

"Yeah, they got this truce going on but I don't know how much it will last," Odd rubbed his chin. "And then there's Sissi."

"The principal's daughter?" Leo blinked. "She's cute."

Odd gave him a strange look. He then reminded himself that Leo was new and hadn't seen all of Sissi's faces yet. "Sissi likes Ulrich too."

"Great, a love square." Leo began thinking and then he got an idea. "Hey, I know something we can do!"

"What?" Odd asked.

"Play matchmaker!" He then saw the others coming. "The others are here. See you after classes in my room and I'll tell you my plan, OK? Oh, and bring Kiwi. I love that little pooch!"

"Sure," Odd said. He was starting to like this kid.

Everyone sat at the same table enjoying their breakfast. It had been quiet the past few days. No attacks from the mysterious new AI or any whereabouts of what had attacked them. According to Jeremie, it had appeared only briefly on in Lyoko, just after everyone had devirtualized.

Sitting not too far from them was a young man, approximately 14 years old. He wore a black t-shirt with the logo for the band "Guns N' Roses" on it. He wore an armband on his left arm that said 'A7X'. He also wore faded black jeans and black boots. His black hair was cut short and combed back. As he was eating, his gaze was concentrated at the gathered Lyoko warriors. At this his lips curled into a smile. After finishing his meal, he got up and turned to leave, revealing another armband on his left arm that revealed the picture of a Predator helmet.

* * *

In Lyoko, deep in the Forest Sector, a tower started to glow purple. As soon as that happened, a see-through image of the purple demon skull appeared before it vanished. It had infected the tower to enable it control over something in the real world. What that something was would remain unknown…until the time was right.

* * *

After classes had ended for the day, Odd made an excuse to meet up with Leo later. Ulrich thought nothing of it and offered to walk Yumi home. However, William had beaten him to it. Instead of walking off, he stayed to see what would happen and listened in.

"Sorry, William, but not today," Yumi said.

"Oh, OK," William frowned, disappointed. "Well, see you in class tomorrow."

"Yeah, see ya," Yumi waved. She did like William but not the way he wanted. She then to see Ulrich waiting for her at the gate.

"So, what did he ask you?" Ulrich asked.

"Oh, he offered to walk me home," Yumi said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "So, what are you up to?"

"Oh, nothing," he shrugged. "Mind if I walk you home."

Yumi frowned. "Ulrich, we've talked about this."

"I know, but as friends, OK?"

Yumi sighed. "OK. Fine, as friends."

"Mind if I carry your bag for you?"

"Don't push it."

The pair then walked out of Kadic Academy together, side by side. William hadn't gone far and growled in agitation. Ulrich would always have a place in Yumi's heart. It wouldn't matter how many times William tried but Ulrich would always be the one Yumi would choose over him. They claimed they were 'just' friends but there were still signs that both teens still harbored feelings for one another. Tucking his hands into his pocket, William walked back to his dorm room to sulk.

* * *

Odd opened the door to his room and stuck his head out to take a look. The hallway was empty so the coast was clear for him. He silently stepped out of his room and shut the door behind him. He didn't want to arouse suspicion since he was moving Kiwi from his room to Leo's room. The dog in question was hidden in a bag that was slung over Odd's shoulder.

"So far so good," Odd snickered. He thanked his good luck and started jogging down the hall.

"Hey!" a gruff voice called.

"Ulp!" Odd gulped loudly as he froze. He turned to see who had called him and he saw none other than the Physical Education teacher, Jim, walking towards him.

Odd now knew that he was in serious trouble. Dogs weren't allowed in school and he could be in serious trouble if the groundskeeper found out that he was hiding a pet on campus. His record wasn't exactly clean either so he may be in for some serious punishment if he got found out.

"What are you running in the halls for?" Jim asked sternly.

"Well, uhhhh," odd tried to speak. "I was kinda in a hurry to get to a friend's room. Gotta keep my studying up and all that school stuff."

Jim frowned for a second, considering the words Odd had said to him. Before long, he just shrugged, "Fine. Just don't let me catch you running in the halls again, you hear me?"

"Crystal clear, sir!" Odd saluted.

Jim nodded before he turned and started walking away. Odd heaved a quiet sigh of relief as he turned to get to Leo's. Before he could start walking though, a whining yawn came out of Odd's bag. Of all the time for Kiwi to wakeup, it had to be now.

"Huh?" Jim frowned as he looked around. Odd thought for sure he was busted. The next words almost gave him a heart attack. "I thought I fixed those pipes. I'd better check them again."

As Jim went to get his tools, Odd was off like a shot. He didn't need anymore close calls for the day.

* * *

Leo was lying on his bed, his headphones around his neck listening to some music when he heard a knock at his door. "Come in," he said and Odd entered, carrying a bag.

"OK, I brought Kiwi," Odd said as he opened the bag to reveal his pet dog. Kiwi barked and launched himself onto Leo's bed before curling up to sleep. Odd sighed and shook his head. Kiwi sure loved to sleep.

"Oh, such a sweet doggie," Leo said, scratching Kiwi's head. He then got up and off his bed to talk with Odd.

Odd had never been to Leo's room up until now. He stared at all the posters and the DVD's that filled up a shelf. As he scanned the DVD's, he pulled one out and stared at the cover. "Kamen…Rider?" Odd asked, not familiar with the title.

"Oh, it's a classic Japanese live action Sci-Fi series," Leo told him. "My favorite!"

Odd looked at the picture of the men in bug-like helmets and made a connection. "So, this is why you look like a bug on Lyoko."

"Explains a lot, huh?" Leo chuckled. "Well, anyway, thanks for coming."

"Hey, anything for a friend," Odd said as he sat down on the floor. "So, what do you have in mind?"

"Well," Leo began as he sat down across from his friend. "The thing is I know Yumi and Ulrich still feel something for each other. It's plain as day."

"Too bad they're too blind," Odd rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't really say that, Odd," Leo said. "They know they like each other, but their trying to preserve their friendship. In my opinion they should take a page out of Einstein and Princess' book." Like Odd, Leo had taken to calling Jeremie and Aelita by their nicknames. It seemed to fit them.

"Got that right," Odd agreed. "So, what's your plan?"

"We kidnap Yumi, and then hold her hostage!" Leo began. "We then send Ulrich a note telling him to meet us where we're keeping Yumi. Ulrich, being the noble hero we know he is on Lyoko, will rush to her rescue. We'll let her go; she'll be eternally grateful, they admit their feelings to each other and live happily ever after." He finished, "So, whaddya think?"

Odd blinked and said uncertainly, "Um…sorry, but I don't think that can happen anytime soon. I mean, kidnapping Yumi? You know what will happen once it's over."

"Right…" Leo rubbed the back of his head. "That plan sounded a lot better in my head than when I was talking about it."

"Any other plans?" Odd asked.

"Hey, that's what I got you here, isn't it? Now, let's brainstorm." Leo took out several pieces of paper and two pencils, handing one of them to Odd. "This is for the love of our two best friends!"

Odd admitted that Leo was both passionate and weird. That was why Odd liked him. He was a kindred spirit. As they both wrote down their ideas, the purple skull once again flashed and gazed at the two teens before fading away.

* * *

As Jeremie and Aelita were studying in their room, which soon turned into a make out session with the pink haired girl on top of the blonde genius, kissing him senseless, the Super Scanner suddenly turned on, detecting an activated tower.

Shocked out of his stupor, Jeremie suddenly sat up, fixing his glasses. "An activated tower!"

Aelita sighed, sadly, since her make out session with Jeremie had come to an abrupt end. She grinned upon remembering something she had left on him during said session. She then got serious and asked, "Where is it?"

Jeremie examined the screen and said, "The Forest Sector! We better call the others!"

* * *

Odd's cell phone rang and when he picked it up he could see the message 'S.O.S. LYOKO' on the screen. He dropped his pencil and got up like Leo who had also received the same message.

Wordlessly, the two ran out of the room but not without locking the door first. Kiwi was left alone to sleep on Leo's bed.

* * *

William was in his room, absently throwing a ball at the ceiling and catching it in his hand. His cell phone rang as well. He picked it up and stared at the screen. "S.O.S. Lyoko, huh?" He sighed. "Sorry, guys, but maybe you should go on alone." He didn't have the mood to go to Lyoko right now. Besides, not all of them were required to go. They had Leo as backup anyway.

* * *

Ulrich was on his way back to the school after he'd reached Yumi's house. She had waved goodbye at him before he waved back, happy that they could share some alone time with each other.

Suddenly, his phone rang and upon seeing the message on screen, groaned. "Great…just when my day was looking up." He started to run towards the factory. Yumi was hot on his heels as well.

"Looks like our walk isn't over huh?" Yumi asked.

"Yeah, looks like it," Ulrich smiled. Well, maybe it wasn't a total bummer if Yumi was gonna accompany him.

If either of them had paid attention, they would've seen an empty car following them.

* * *

"Where's William?" Jeremie asked as he stood near the manhole cover with Aelita.

"Didn't see him," Odd replied.

"Yumi and Ulrich said they're on their way," Aelita said.

"Well, if William isn't coming, then fine," Leo said. "All we need to do is fight monsters and get Aelita to the tower."

"Fine, let's go," Jeremie said as Leo lifted up the lid. Aelita was the first to go down, followed by Jeremie, Odd and finally Leo who pulled the manhole cover over the hole.

In the sewer, Aelita, Odd and Leo picked up their skateboards as Jeremie got the scooter. They hopped onto their modes of transportation and raced towards the factory.

They raced through the underground tunnels which would take them straight to their destination. They had long since memorized the way there since they had to use it so often while the fought XANA. Leo had to follow behind them so he wouldn't accidentally get lost. The trip was quick enough since they were on wheels. That was good since time was of the essence.

The teens then climbed up the ladder leading towards the manhole cover in front of the factory before pushing it aside and climbing out the hole. Aelita was the last to come out and Jeremie was there to lend a hand. Seeing nobody in sight, they then rushed into the factory.

* * *

Ulrich and Yumi's trip was interrupted when a car was racing straight for them. Ulrich heard the squeal of tires and turned to see what was coming. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the car racing at them with as much speed as it could muster.

"Yumi, watch out!" Ulrich yelled as he grabbed Yumi, pushing them down and away from the car's path. The car roared past them and crashed into a tree.

"What the hell!?" Yumi cried out. The engine of the car roared again as the car went into reverse in attempts to try and run them down again.

"Run!" Ulrich yelled as they both took off running and fast, away from the speeding car. It was accelerating and going to run them over. Thinking quickly, Ulrich grabbed Yumi's wrist and pulled both of them into a narrow alley. The car did just that and crashed, thrashing itself when it tried to go after them. However, it didn't fit.

"Why was that car coming after us?" Yumi asked.

"You have to ask?" Ulrich deadpanned. "Our new 'friend' must've possessed it to off us."

"We better find a way out of here," Yumi said. In the narrow alley, both of them were pressed very close together. Yumi noticed how tall Ulrich had grown and blushed. Ulrich likewise noticed that Yumi had grown as well. "Um…can you move first?"

"Oh, yeah," he blushed. "Sure."

* * *

Jeremie sat in front of the computer monitors and the holographic image of Lyoko appeared next to him. The others had gone down to the scanner room. Ulrich and Yumi hadn't arrived yet. However, they didn't have time to waste. This new threat was on the move and it had to be shut down before it did some serious damage.

Down in the scanner room, Leo grinned. "OK, time for the plunge."

"Hope you don't get devirtualized, buddy," Odd said to him.

"Same to you."

Aelita rolled her eyes and entered one of the scanners, followed by Leo and Odd who entered theirs. The doors closed and up in front of the computer was Jeremie as he started the sequence.

"Transfer: Aelita. Transfer: Leo. Transfer Odd," Jeremie said as their respective character profile cards appeared. "Scanner: Aelita. Scanner: Leo. Scanner: Odd," he continued as their virtual forms appeared on screen. He then pressed down the Enter key. "Virtualization!"

* * *

The three Lyoko Warriors first appeared as wire frames before filling out in mid-air. As soon as the virtualization processed was complete, they landed on the ground in the Forest Sector.

"A forest?" Leo asked as he looked around. "This is new."

"You should see the ice and desert sectors," Odd said. "And Carthage."

"What's Carthage?"

They heard Jeremie's voice, "_Now's not the time to talk. I'm programming the Overbike and Overboard now_." As soon as he said that, the vehicles appeared.

"Sweet ride!" Leo grinned. "Dibs on the bike!" he said as he mounted it.

Odd hopped onto the board. Aelita on the other hand didn't have a vehicle. She didn't need one as a pair of pink angel wings appeared on her back. Leo was entranced but remembered that Aelita was taken. He could still admire her though.

"_The activated tower is up ahead_," Jeremie said. "_Be careful_."

"OK, Jeremie," Aelita said before taking off with both Odd and Leo following her. They knew they'd have to face monsters. It was obvious their new enemy didn't want them to deactivate the tower.

* * *

Yumi and Ulrich were making their way towards the factory. If vehicles were starting to come to life then they knew they had to get to Lyoko and fast. They had lost the possessed car but now had newer problems when they found their path blocked by a 'gang' of unmanned motorbikes. The bikes revved up their engines as Ulrich took Yumi's hand. He wasn't going to lose her, not like this. She was also squeezing his hand as well.

There was a squealing of rubber against asphalt as the bikes dashed straight at the two Lyoko Warriors. "Run!" Ulrich shouted as they then turned towards the opposite direction to find a safe place to hide. One of the bike's headlights flashed before firing a laser at them. It missed but soon more laser fire followed.

The two Lyoko Warriors ran faster, dodging lasers as they entered an abandoned building for safety. They then closed the doors shut and Ulrich slid a pipe through the door handles to lock the possessed bikes out.

"We'll be safe here," Ulrich said but then saw Yumi clutching her arm. "Yumi!" he cried as he checked her.

"I'm fine," she said, giving him a smile, though still clutching on her wounded arm. One of the lasers must've grazed her without them noticing. It had a rather nasty burn on it. Ulrich frowned and ripped off his sleeve before wrapping it up around her wound, making it a make-shift bandage.

The building they were in only had one floor and Ulrich peeked out the window to see that the bikes were still surrounding them. "Great…" he grumbled. "Let's just hope the others are fine without us." His phone began to ring. He picked it up. "Hello?"

"_Ulrich, where are you?_" he heard Jeremie's voice. "_And where's Yumi. You should've been here by now_."

"We are locked in a building and surrounded by possessed laser firing motorbikes," Ulrich answered bluntly. Might as well get straight to the point.

"_Oh_," Jeremie realised. "_Well, I already sent Odd, Aelita and Leo into Lyoko to deactivate the tower. For some reason, I can't reach William_."

Ulrich gritted his teeth. Didn't William keep his phone on? Well, right now, he had to put his trust in Odd and the new kid, Leo, to make sure Aelita got to the tower in time. Yumi was clutching to him right now and if they weren't in danger then he might've enjoyed the contact.

* * *

The Overbike had been devirtualized by a single precise shot. However, Leo was unfazed as he leapt off the devirtualizing vehicle and then launched a powerful kick into the Krabe that had done so. He began to configure his Gasher into Sword Mode.

"I feel so bad for Ulrich and Yumi if they're missing this action!" Leo smiled as he slashed a Kankrelot in half with his sword before leaping over a shot from a Krabe behind him. He did a flip and landed on its shell before stabbing it. It then blew up before Leo leapt up.

As soon as they got close to the tower, a group of monsters had come to welcome them. The 'welcoming committee' soon started blasting at them.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd called as he fired two arrows dead centre into a Blok, blowing it up. The two of them were holding off the monsters while Aelita made her way towards the tower. However, this was meant with difficulty with a swarm of at least half a dozen Hornets chasing after her.

"Energy Field!" she called, blasting the Hornets chasing her. She managed to destroy one but the remaining ones shot lasers at her. One of them hit and she yelped.

"_Aelita, you just lost 10 life points!_" Jeremie warned.

Leo was preoccupied when two more Krabes showed up, blasting him with lasers. He got hit in the leg. He then charged and dodged their lasers before running at them. He leapt up in between them and they fired, only for them to hit each other as Leo kicked off one of the Krabes and into the air. He then came down and stabbed one, causing it to explode and taking the other Krabe with it. He landed on the ground dusted off his hands.

"Hah, too sweet!" the new Lyoko Warrior grinned victoriously. Of course, he should've noticed the Kankrelot behind him and because of that was blasted in the back. "Not cool!" he let out before he was devirtualized.

* * *

The scanner opened as steam escaped from it with Leo walking out. He hated getting devirtualized early. He hoped Aelita could get to the tower in time.

* * *

Odd was being overwhelmed by monsters as he fired at them. However, it was in vain as he was repeatedly shot and lost all his life points, resulting in devirtualization.

The second scanner suddenly opened and Odd walked out of it, also wearing a disappointed frown. "You too, huh?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Odd frowned. "I saw Aelita next to the tower though. I hope those monsters don't get a hold of her."

"Amen to that," Leo nodded. "Come on. We'd better see what's going on with Einstein."

"Right," Odd nodded before both boys headed to the elevator so they could get back up to Jeremie.

* * *

The vehicles were still trying to break in and this time had gotten help in the form of a truck. It was ramming against the door while Ulrich and Yumi tried to find someplace to hide. The windows were locked shut and they could only get out by jumping through them, if not for the bikes still surrounding them.

Ulrich felt scared, not for him, but for Yumi. Both of them had been through countless near death experiences while fighting XANA and showed how they felt about each other, but never told each other directly. If Ulrich had a chance to, now would be it.

* * *

Aelita was surrounded. There was no way she could get into the tower without being devirtualized. One of the hornets charged at her. It was moving so fast that she had no time to react, luckily she wouldn't have to. The hornet exploded just inches away from Aelita. She looked and saw a creature approaching her… The Predator. "Go deactivate the tower, I'll cover you." Several creatures charged at him. His wrist blades extended. He readied himself and charged at the creatures.

* * *

Aelita entered the tower but not before looking back at the Predator. She then floated up upon the platform.

* * *

"Yumi, there's something you should know," Ulrich began, his voice serious.

"What is it, Ulrich?" Yumi asked.

"Well, I know you like me, and I like you," Ulrich began, causing both of them to blush, "So, I'm going to outright say it."

"Ulrich…" She had wanted to be just friends, but even her own feelings were wavering.

"Yumi, I…"

CRASH!

The truck had broken down the door and backed away, leaving an opening for the killer bikes. Ulrich hated bad timing. He and Yumi tried to run but their path was blocked by the surrounding bikes as they began charging their lasers.

* * *

Aelita touched the screen with her palm and her name came up.

AELITA.

* * *

Now was the only time he could tell her. No time to waste.

"Yumi, I love you," he finally said. That was a weight off his chest.

"Oh, Ulrich," Yumi responded. If the situation wasn't so dire, it might've been romantic.

The bikes' lasers grew brighter as the two teens held each other for what appeared to be may be their last time.

* * *

CODE

* * *

Yumi whispered, into his ear, "Aishiteru."

Then the lasers fired at them.

* * *

LYOKO

Aelita finished, "Tower, deactivated."

* * *

The Predator stood alone, surrounded by the corpses of various monsters. He smiled under his helmet and swiped a card through his wrist computer. "Return!"

* * *

Seeing the danger had past, Jeremie decided it was good time to launch a return trip. It was then that Leo saw something on Jeremie's neck. "Hey, is that a hickie?"

At once, a blushing Jeremie called, "Return to the past, NOW!" before pressing down on the Enter key. A bright flash of light soon engulfed everything.

* * *

Yumi and Ulrich held their breath as the beams scorched through the air towards them. All of a sudden, the beams suddenly fizzled out in the air. Both teens watched as the truck and motorcycles suddenly stopped running.

Yumi heaved a sigh of relief and clutched onto Ulrich tightly. She had thought that they were really going to bite it right there.

"Ready to go back to the past?" Ulrich smiled as he held her. He saw the bright light beginning to seep through the walls.

"As long as you're there," Yumi smiled as she continued to hold Ulrich as the light engulfed them both.

* * *

The day repeated itself starting at the point when Odd and Leo were sitting at breakfast and discussing about the nature of Ulrich and Yumi's relationship and trying to find a way to bring them together. All this changed when they saw Ulrich and Yumi entering the cafeteria with their hands held together. Sissi, seeing this, immediately fumed angrily.

"Uh...you okay, Sissi?" asked Herve.

"No, I am not!" Sissi snapped as she stood up. "Come on! I've got some things I want to do!"

Herve and Nicolas were grabbed by their shoulders before they were dragged out of the cafeteria by their idol/boss.

Yumi and Ulrich didn't really take notice of Sissi's immediate loss of her temper. They both walked over to their usual table where Odd and Leo were talking and took a seat. They immediately made sure that they were sitting next to each other.

"Well look at you two," Odd snickered. "Looks like someone finally got a clue."

"Near-death experiences will do that sometime," Yumi shrugged. She wasn't ashamed of her relationship with Ulrich. If anything, a lot of people had been seeing this coming for a long time now. Their only question was why hadn't it happened sooner?

"Wow, looks like we didn't need to intervene after all," Leo blinked, amused.

"That for sure," Odd agreed. "I was getting tired of the whole 'will they, won't they' crap."

The friends were talking easily, but over at his own table, William was feeling pretty down all of a sudden. To be perfectly honest he had been half-expecting this outcome, but it didn't really make it hurt any less. Still, if it had to be anyone he lost Yumi to he didn't mind losing her to Ulrich. Well, not as much as he would if he had lost her to some other guy.

"Love sucks sometimes," he sighed to himself.

Jeremie and Aelita soon joined them and Leo grinned.

"So, Einstein," Leo teased. "Was that really a hickie I saw on your neck before the Return to the Past or a very big mosquito bite?"

Both Aelita and Jeremie blushed.

* * *

Within the depths of the Lyoko mainframe, the program which had taken over for XANA looked over the data which it had collected from its encounters with the Lyoko Warriors.

Initial encounters proved that they were experienced with the tactics it was currently using. Fortunately, while they were experienced with them, they were as of yet not fully adapted to them. That meant that it could still make use of these tactics.

Of course, that didn't mean it couldn't lend its own personal _improvements_.


	3. Friends Indeed

William was sitting alone on a bench, drinking a can of soda. He just wanted to be alone for awhile. He'd kept his cell phone off so that he wouldn't be disturbed as he sulked in peace.

He was hurting, as you could plainly see as both Yumi and Ulrich had finally hooked up. It hadn't hurt at first but it must've festered over time. He hadn't met up with the group for awhile and ignored Yumi whenever they were in class together. It was like his old school all over again.

William sighed as leaned back on his bench and stared dumbly at the sky. Then someone's head blocked the sun.

"Hey, William," Leo greeted as he looked down on his fellow Lyoko Warrior. William jumped in shock as Leo backed away. Today he was wearing a yellow hoodie and black t-shirt combo with yellow Japanese writing on it. It would translate to "My strength shall make you cry!" On the back was a picture of a napkin and the Japanese words that translated to, "Wipe your tears with this".

"Leo!" William exclaimed. "You scared me."

"Didn't mean to," Leo said. He then added, "We haven't seen you around as much and you kinda ignored us all week. Care to talk about it?" William looked away.

"No," he muttered. "Now leave me alone."

Leo sighed. He wasn't going to leave William alone, fearing he would do something he'd regret. He decided to sit down next to William, who glared at him in response.

"Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" William asked.

"Yeah, but I decided not to comply," Leo said as he unwrapped a piece of candy and popped it into his mouth. He offered some to William who waved his hand to decline. "Suit yourself." Leo started to chew, "So, tell me, why are you on your own like this?"

"None of your business," William glowered.

"It's about Yumi and Ulrich, isn't it?" Leo asked and he received a growl in response. "I thought so." William then got up.

"Why don't you butt out, huh!?" William yelled at the red haired boy before walking away with his hands in his pocket. Leo sighed. He had thought of William as a friend, along with the rest of the warriors, but it seemed that now William didn't want anything to do with them. This thing with Yumi and Ulrich was bothering him and he was in denial. That wasn't necessarily healthy.

William had purposely avoided going on missions to Lyoko. When he was called, he wouldn't turn up, and when asked he would avoid the question. This wasn't right. He was as much as part of the team as the rest of them.

Leo may have been new to their group, but he knew what it looked like when someone was hurting. He had made it his mission to try to fix this before William did something too drastic. He snapped his fingers and grinned. He had an idea but he needed help. In the meantime, he checked his watch to see the time. "Crud, I'm late!" he said before running towards the mail building. His package must've arrived by now.

* * *

William was walking along, not really sure where he was going. "Women troubles?" asked a voice.

William turned to see a young man who wore faded black jeans and a black t-shirt that had the name of the band "Black Sabbath" on it. He sat there strumming a guitar. He had slicked back black hair and navy blue eyes. He had an armband on his left arm that read 'A7X'. "How did you know?" William asked.

"Never underestimate the powers of observation, my friend. That and I saw you glaring at that Ulrich guy at breakfast the other day." He then asked, "You like Yumi?"

"How did you know?" said William.

"Did you forget that we're in the same class? Hunter, remember?" said the man, now known as Hunter.

"Oh yeah, you sit in the back right?"

"Yep."

"So what, you going to give me some advice too?" said William in an annoyed tone.

"Nope" said Hunter, bluntly. "Love's not really my specialty. So, sorry, but you're on your own with that one." Hunter then sat up. "See ya around, William." Hunter then went on his way, strumming his guitar.

* * *

Leo was running towards his room with a box in hand. He nearly bumped into Jim but luckily for him he was able to swiftly maneuver himself around the teacher gracefully and apologized by saying, "Sorry, Jimbo!"

"Hey, no running in the dorms!" Jim warned. "Darn kids," he muttered. "Always in a hurry."

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!" Leo cheered. "They're here!" He was obviously referring to the box in his hand. Suddenly, he bumped into Odd and they tumbled. The box was sent flying up into the air as it lid came off and cards rained down on the two.

"Odd!" Leo shouted, "Oh, sorry, dude! I'm so clumsy!"

"Hey, no harm done," Odd said, grinning at his friend. He then looked around them, "But we better get this clean up before Jim catches us."

"Oh, right!" Leo agreed as he began picking up cards and putting them back into the box. Odd picked one up and his eyes widened with recognition.

"Hey, these are Duel Monsters cards," Odd said as he looked at one, a Battle Ox. "You collect them?" he asked Leo as he passed the boy his card.

"Sure do!" Leo said. "Got my deck in my room and asked my parents to mail the rest over. I haven't had the chance to play against someone."

"Well, look no further," Odd said, grinning. "I got a deck too and a few cards stashed away."

"Really!" Leo said, smiling widely. "Wow! It's my lucky day. Wanna duel?"

"Maybe after dinner," Odd said. "And maybe trade too."

"It's a deal!" Leo shook Odd's hand. The cards had all been returned to the box before Leo put the lid back on. "See you at dinner!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back on Lyoko, in the ice sector, a lone tower began to glow an ominous purple color. The AI had just made its move, but what was it planning?

* * *

Leo entered his room and put the box down on his bed. He went to his desk and pulled out a drawer where his deck was. He picked up the leather case and snapped it open before pulling out his cards and spreading them out.

"OK, guys, time for another duel," Leo said as he grinned down on the Monster cards. If he'd been paying attention, he would've noticed his webcam focusing on him. Suddenly, a strange symbol flickered on his screen. A purple vapor started to trail from his webcam and began slithering like a predatory snake in search of its pray. It moved slowly, not wanting to alarm Leo before…it struck!

"Ugh!" Leo grunted as he felt a shock run up his spine. He then passed out on the floor, dropping his cards and causing them to scatter all over the floor. Several seconds later, he pushed himself back up to his feet, seemingly fine.

_Seemingly_ fine, for right now a purple emblem resembling a demonic skull appeared on his forehead for a split second before vanishing.

* * *

Jeremie and Aelita were both in his room, just talking, when all of a sudden his computer turned on by itself. Alarmed, he examined the screen. The super scanner program was currently running and found something alarming.

"There's an activated tower on Lyoko, in the ice sector," Jeremie said, seriously. "We better gather the others."

"I'm already messaging them," Aelita said as she dialed her phone.

* * *

Odd was on his way to Leo's room with his deck in hand when his phone rang. Digging into his pocket, he picked it up to see the ever familiar message of 'S.O.S. LYOKO' on the screen. Sighing, he decided to get Leo.

"Might as well go get him," Odd muttered to himself as he walked over to the door and knocked. "Hey, buddy, you in there?" He received no answer. "Hey, Leo! Einstein needs us at the factory!" He knocked again. "Hey, Le-OWCH!" Odd yelped as the door slammed into him as it suddenly swung open, causing him to fall on his rear. "Ow…" he groaned as his cards were scattered around him. "Hey, man, what's the big idea?" He looked up to see Leo with a far away look on his face before noticing Odd.

"Oh, sorry, Odd," Leo said apologetically. "Here, let me help you up." He reached over to Odd and the boy grabbed his arm before pulling himself up. They then gathered up all the scattered cards.

"Now, come on!" Odd said, pocketing his deck, "We got to get going!" Odd then ran out the dorm. Leo followed behind, a strange smile on his face.

* * *

Yumi and Ulrich were just in town having ice cream as they walked by her house. They just had fun, hanging out, but as a couple. Though Yumi was being teased relentlessly by Hiroki, she felt it was totally worth it knowing that she was with Ulrich, finally, after going around an emotional circle.

"I had fun today," Yumi smiled before kissing Ulrich. The German boy would not be getting tired of those.

"Yeah, me too," Ulrich smiled as he turned to leave for Kadic when their cell phones began to rang. They shared a look before digging into their pockets and taking them out.

S.O.S. LYOKO.

Both knew immediately what that meant. Throwing away the remainder of their ice cream, they then made their way, hastily, towards the factory.

* * *

William was in his room, lying idly on his bed as he sighed dejectedly. When his cell phone rang, he knew what it was about. He glanced at the message for a second before shutting off his phone.

"Sorry, guys," he muttered, "Not in the mood today."

* * *

Jeremie, Odd, Ulrich, Yumi, Aelita and Leo all met up in the woods behind the school, standing over the manhole cover.

"Where's William?" Ulrich asked.

"He's not answering his cell phone," Aelita reported.

"Come on, we don't have time to waste," said Leo as he lifted up the lid.

"Leo's right," Jeremie agreed. "Time is of the essence."

All of them went down the ladder leading down to the sewer. Leo was the last to enter as he slid the lid over the hole.

They grabbed their boards, scooter for Jeremie, as they sped down the sewers towards the manhole at the bridge. There, they would go up the ladder before rushing into the factory. They rushed into the elevator and Leo pressed the button for them to go down. Jeremie exited first in the computer control room before the others went down further to the scanner room. All this was routine for them.

"The tower is in the ice sector guys," Jeremie spoke into the microphone. "Deactivate it before anything starts happening."

* * *

There were only three scanners so Aelita, Yumi and Ulrich entered them first.

"You got it, Jeremie," Aelita said as the chamber closed. Yumi and Ulrich's scanners started to close too.

* * *

"Transfer: Aelita. Transfer: Ulrich. Transfer: Yumi," Jeremie said as he began the process. "Scanner: Aelita. Scanner: Ulrich. Scanner: Yumi," Jeremie continued. He finished as he pressed Enter, "Virtualization!" He then said, "Odd, Leo, when they're in Lyoko, you're going in next."

* * *

"Gotcha, Einstein!" Odd said, giving a thumb's up. Leo was oddly silent.

Two of the scanners opened up before the two boys entered. "Good luck, buddy!" Odd said but Leo didn't give a response. Odd blinked as Leo acted cold. "OK, was it something I said?"

The two scanners closed.

* * *

"Transfer: Odd. Transfer: Leo," Jeremie said as he began the process again, "Scanner: Odd. Scanner: Leo." He then finished by pressing the Enter key, "Virtualization!"

* * *

A wireframe of both Odd and Leo appeared in midair before they filled up and then they landed on their feet on the icy ground of the ice sector.

"And this is the ice sector!" Odd exclaimed, "Also known as the arctic region." He then joked, "Try not to get cold feet."

No response.

"O…kay…" Odd said as Leo walked by him to join with the others.

"Is that the tower?" Leo asked and Jeremie replied.

"_Yep, and I'm detecting several Krabes, Tarantulas, Hornets and…_" he paused suddenly.

"What's wrong, Jeremie?" Aelita ask.

"_There's a Scyphozoa!_" Jeremie shouted, causing the group to become surprised.

"A Scyphozao?" Ulrich asked, "But why?"

"What's a Scyphozoa?" Leo asked, clearly not familiar with the term.

"Imagine big jellyfish and you pretty much get it," Odd said.

"It can also paralyze you before stealing your memories," Aelita shuddered. She'd had her memories stolen several times. Wasn't a pleasant experience.

"So, we better avoid it," Yumi said. "We don't know what our new friends want with a Scyphozoa out there."

'_I do_,' Leo thought sinisterly as he glanced at Aelita.

"Alright, let's go!" Ulrich said as he hopped onto the Overbike with Leo mounting behind him. Yumi and Aelita boarded the Overwing as Odd got on the Overboard. The vehicles then sped towards the tower.

"_I'll try to figure out what our new friend is planning_," Jeremie said. "_Good luck, you guys._"

The Tarantulas and Krabes noticed the group and began firing on them. Ulrich swerved out of the lasers path, barely missing him, as he drew one of his swords.

"Get ready to jump!" Ulrich commanded and Leo nodded before heading towards a Krabe. "Now!" Leo leapt up over the Krabe as Ulrich sped under it. "Impact!" Ulrich shouted as he stabbed his sword under the Krabe.

"Rider Punch!" Leo shouted as he smashed his fist into the Krabe's shell. It was destroyed instantly as Leo landed next to Ulrich. More Krabes began firing on them as they dodged out of the way.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd called as he fired at the Hornets. The insectoid monsters flew out of the way before firing with their stingers. Odd took cover behind a block of ice before firing again. "Come on, you bugs!"

Yumi threw her fans at the Tarantula's slicing the emblem on their heads, resulting in their demise. Aelita backed her up by firing her energy fields at them. The Scyohozoa hovered stationary as it watched the Warriors fight.

"Hah, is this all they got?" Ulrich asked as he just destroyed a Krabe. Leo was armed with his Sword Gasher and deflecting the lasers. As soon as Ulrich's back was turned, Leo leapt out of the way of a laser that shot into Ulrich, much to his surprise. Wasn't Leo supposed to watch his back? He then devirtualised instantly.

"Ulrich!" Yumi yelled as she ran towards the Krabe that had devirtualised Ulrich. She threw her fans at it but then Leo swung his sword and batted them away. Yumi gasped in shock but then realized what was going on.

"Leo, you're pos-" she didn't get to finish the sentence before he had his sword stuck in her chest. She looked at him and then devirtualised.

* * *

The two scanners opened as steam came out along with Yumi and Ulrich. Yumi decided to tell him what she'd just discovered, "Leo! He's possessed!"

"What?" Ulrich responded, shocked, but then realized that maybe Yumi was on to something. Leo just let him get shot. "We better warn Odd and Aelita. They're in trouble."

* * *

Odd and Aelita had just seen Leo devirtualize Yumi and realized that they had just been double-crossed. Leo looked at the them both, the symbol flickering on his forehead before he made a mad dash towards Odd.

"Oh, no you don't!" Odd shouted. Now he knew why Leo had been acting strange this entire time. "Laser Arrow!" He fired several shots at his possessed friend.

"Clock Up!" Leo shouted before vanishing from sight.

"Huh!?" Odd yelped. "Where'd he go!? Einstein, where is he!?"

Jeremie shouted, "_He's behind you!_"

Odd could hear the words, "Clock Over," before a sword protruded out of his chest. He then vanished as he was devirtualised. "And Game Over."

Odd reappeared back in the scanner room, upset. His friend just stabbed him in the back, literally. Now, Aelita was all alone on Lyoko.

Aelita was surrounded by Krabes, Tarantulas and Hornets as she fought against them. Now, Leo was possessed and joining the army as the Scyphozoa floated towards her, its tentacles pointed at her. She tried to summon an Energy Field, but then Leo grabbed both her arms. Frightened, she watched as the Scyphozoa came closer, and closer…

"Leo!" Aelita shouted, "Please, let me go! This is not you! You have to fight it! Fight it!"

Leo was starting to shudder at her words as the symbol on his forehead flickered on and off. "Ae…Lita…?" he questioned as he loosed his grip. That was all Aelita needed before blasting him with an energy field. Her wings then spread open before she took to the air.

"Get her!" Leo shouted, once again under the AI's control. The Hornets flew after the girl, attempting to shoot her down for the Scyphozoa. Leo just watched, slightly angry that his 'master's' target had just gotten away.

* * *

"Someone has to go there to help her!" Jeremie shouted. He turned to the others. No way could he send them back into Lyoko without the risk of killing them from shock. Their only chance now was to find someone to go into Lyoko and keep Leo's attention away from Aelita so she could deactivate the tower. William was still not answering his phone. Things looked bleak.

"I'll go find William," Yumi said crossly.

"I'll come with you," Ulrich volunteered but she stopped him.

"No," Yumi shook her head. "I need to speak with him, alone."

"But-"

"Trust me."

Ulrich hesitated and said, reluctantly, "Oh, alright." She smiled before entering the elevator and going up. "Please, hurry."

* * *

The shadowy figure was watching everything unfold on a computer screen. "Wow," he whistled. "They're getting creamed out there. Better go help… as much as I hate saving the prey…" He slashed a card through his wrist computer. "Digitize!"

* * *

William sighed in his room. Maybe he should've gone. Then again, that would mean seeing Yumi and Ulrich together. Besides, why did they need him anyway? They've handled themselves before and now they had Leo. They didn't need him

Suddenly, the door to his room slammed open and he sat up in surprise to see Yumi there, standing, huffing like she'd been running a marathon or something. She didn't look happy as she stomped forwards and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"Hey!" he exclaimed.

"I'm taking you to the factory, now!" she said, tugging but he gripped her wrist and forced her to let go.

"Thanks, but no thanks," he remarked. "I'm not going back."

"We need your help!" Yumi shouted.

"Why not get Leo to help you?" he retorted.

"Leo is why we need your help!" Yumi shouted. "He's possessed!"

"What?" William responded, surprised. "He's possessed."

"Yeah, so stop moping and let's go."

"I…can't."

Yumi froze. And then she turned to glare at him with the iciest, coldest, stare she could muster. "What was that?"

"I can't, Yumi," William said. "I'm sorry."

"Now listen here, buster!" she yelled, "You've been ignoring us for awhile now and refusing to answer your phone and I want to know why!"

"You know why!" he snapped. "You got together with Ulrich!"

Yumi blinked.

"That's it? You're refusing to help us because you got your heart broken?" she sneered. "Oh, grow up!"

"Just leave me alone," he said.

SLAP!

William looked at her as she'd just smacked him in the face.

"William, the world doesn't revolve around your problems," she growled. Her expression then softened, "And you could've talked to us about this. We're your friends."

"Some friends," he grumbled.

"Yeah, we're your friends, the same friends who risked everything to save you from XANA," Yumi reminded. "No matter what, we saved you. Now, please, help us?"

William thought for a moment.

"I never thought you'd be moping around on your ass," Yumi said. "I thought you were a man of action. Maybe I thought wrong."

William got up. "Alright, what's the situation?"

"Leo's been possessed," Yumi answered, smiling that he finally agreed to help. "He devirtualised everyone and now Aelita's alone with him. I don't know what's going to happen to her. Please."

"Then what are we waiting for?" William smirked before they ran out of his dorm. He was back!

* * *

Meanwhile, back on Lyoko, the Scyphozoa was getting closer towards Aelita, reaching with its tentacles. She was surrounded from all sides. Leo stood there, smiling, under the evil AI's control.

Suddenly, a laser shot blew up one of the Krabes, surprising Leo. "What!?" he shouted out. Rippling into view was the Predator. The monsters decided to attack the Predator. However, even though they outnumbered him, he outmatched them as he attacked them precisely, destroying most of them in seconds.

Leo said to the Scyphozoa, "Hold her!" before running towards the Predator. The Predator slashed at Leo who blocked with his Sword Gasher before he punched the Predator in the mask. Sparks flew as they struck at each other.

Aelita backed away from the Scyphozoa as it advanced on her. She was near the edge which led down to the digital sea. What could she do? She didn't have enough energy to generate her wings or Energy Fields. In a way, she was totally screwed. The Scyphozoa reached towards her, ready to take her memories.

Suddenly, William fell between the Predator and Leo before swinging his large sword at the possessed Lyoko Warrior. Leo snarled as he got ready to slice William in half before the Predator stood in front of William, blocking Leo with his forearm. "Go save the girl. This one's my prey," the Predator said. William, not feeling like arguing about the matter, ran off to save Aelita. The Predator looked back at Leo. "Just know that I take no pleasure in this. If I'm going to hunt, I want it to at least a good hunt." He kicked Leo back and readied himself. He reached behind him and pulled out a Combi-stick, a staff like weapon that appeared in the Predator movies. It extended and the Predator prepared for battle. Leo prepared his blade and the two warriors charged at each other. Leo slashed down with the Gasher as Predator swung up with his Combi stick.

The Scyphozoa already had its tentacles around Aelita, ready to drain her of her memories, when suddenly someone jumped in between the two and then slashed at the tentacles with his large sword.

"William!" Aelita exclaimed, happy to see him. William smiled at her.

"Hey, Aelita. Sorry I was late," William nodded before glaring at the Scyphozoa, "You and I have a score to settle." He saw that Leo and the Predator were still fighting and said to Aelita, "Go deactivate the tower!"

"Just be careful!" Aelita shouted before running towards the purple glowing tower. The Scyphozoa chased after her but received a vicious slash to its back. It turned to face William.

"Sorry, squiddy, but I'm your playmate," William said.

Meanwhile, Leo and the Predator were still fighting. It would appear that they were evenly matched. Leo then turned to see Aelita headed for the tower. "No!" he shouted as he took his eyes away from the Predator for just a second before the Predator got in close and placed the tip of his wrist against Leo's chest. His wrist blade extended and went straight through Leo. Leo, at the same time, impaled the Predator with his Gasher. Leo devirtualized soon after as the Predator fell backward. He looked around as the various creatures surrounded him. "Pauk…" he muttered. He weakly reached up and pressed a few buttons on his wrist computer. It began beeping as the creatures closed in on him. The beeping became faster and faster. The Predator began to laugh. Soon the beeping stopped and turned into one long beep. All became silent for a moment.

**BOOM!!**

A large explosion expanded from the wrist computer, destroying all the surrounding creatures and devirtualizing the Predator.

Now devirtualised, Leo would be the others' problem now.

* * *

Odd, Yumi and Ulrich all stood in the scanner room, ready for anything that Leo might have since he was still possessed by the evil AI.

The door opened wide before their possessed teammate stumbled through. A hateful glare was on his face.

"_Too chaotic_," he growled, the symbol glowing on his head. "_Uncontrollable. Must be destroyed!_"

"Oh man," Odd gulped. "That AI really messed with his head."

"Just keep an eye on him," Ulrich frowned.

Leo let out a low growl before he lunged at the trio who dared to stand against his master.

* * *

Aelita phased through the walls of the tower before heaving a sigh of relief. She looked up and allowed herself to hover towards the terminal in the tower. She reached forward and let her palm be scanned to allow her access.

AELITA

A screen with her name appeared in front of her before she began putting the information required for deactivation.

* * *

Leo was tackled to the ground by Odd and Ulrich. The possessed boy was thrashing wildly and sounding like a caged animal. Yumi kept herself planted at the door just incase Leo broke loose.

"How's a scrawny guy like him get so strong?" Odd grunted as he tried to hold Leo down.

"Keep him down!" Ulrich groaned as Leo's strength kept pounding against him.

"Hurry up, guys," Yumi fretted. She hated seeing her friends and boyfriend fighting like this.

* * *

Aelita brought up another screen which she would punch in the next command that she would need.

CODE

LYOKO

Immediately, the screens began shifting and flying to the bottom of the tower. There, white energy began to build up.

"Tower, deactivated," she said to Jeremie through their connection.

* * *

Leo was about to slug Odd before his eyes suddenly turned dull and the symbol vanished. With a soft groan, he collapsed to the ground out cold.

"Whew," Odd panted as he began to get up. "I guess they did it."

"About time," Ulrich commented. "I can't believe that we couldn't tell the difference."

"Well, XANA did trick us with William," Yumi commented. "This new AI is just as good."

"Yeah," Ulrich sighed. He hated getting tricked and this would be the second time a computer managed to fool him.

* * *

Jeremie watched the computer calm down as Aelita completed the shutdown sequence for the tower.

"Alright, Aelita, William, I'm bringing you back in," he smiled as he activated the command.

"_Jeremie, I'm nearly done here! Hey, the Scyphozoa's running away! Come back!_" he heard William yell.

* * *

Leo groaned as his eyes fluttered open. The first thing he saw was his friends hovering over him. "Ugh…what happened?"

"Well, you were just possessed by our new friend," Odd said, bluntly and truthfully.

"Did I do anything wrong?" Leo asked. He hoped that he hadn't done anything wrong while under the influence of the enemy AI.

"Well, you tried to deliver Aelita to the Scyphozoa," Jeremie replied. Leo slapped himself in the forehead.

"Aw, man! Sorry, guys," Leo said, apologizing. These people took him into their confidence about Lyoko and he goes and tries to hurt them. Some friend he was.

"It wasn't your fault, Leo," said William, "Believe me when I say some of us have been down that road."

"Hey, you came," Leo smiled at William. "Good to see you out of your funk, finally."

"Well, I had my senses slapped back into me," William said, casting a glance at Yumi.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay, Leo?" Ulrich asked.

"Well, aside from having a pounding headache knowing someone used me for a meat puppet, I'm just dandy," Leo grumbled a bit.

"Why did the Scyphozoa want Aelita?" Odd asked.

"The AI must want information on her," Jeremie said, logically, "I mean, Aelita does have the ability to deactivate the towers so maybe it wants her data to find a way to counter it."

"Great…" Yumi rolled her eyes. "XANA never thought of that before and now we have an AI who wants that."

"Obviously this one is smarter than XANA," Ulrich sighed. "Just what we need."

Leo was rubbing his temples, groaning. Odd asked, "Hey, man, what's up?"

"When I was possessed, I heard a name…" Leo said. "It was really faint, but I could still hear it all the while I was possessed."

"A name?" Jeremie asked.

"The name of our new_friend_," Leo explained. He now had the rapt attention of all the Lyoko Warriors. "Its name…is KAI."

* * *

The Lyoko Warriors now have a name. But what is KAI and what does it want? For more answers, read on, OK? Thanx also to Ten Faced Paladin and Shadow Element 13 for helping me with this short chap.


	4. Predator or Prey?

Another late night mission had just been accomplished by the Lyoko Warriors as they all climbed out of the manhole. Leo, their newest member, yawned as he stretched his arms. He complained as he scratched his back, "Doesn't KAI have any respect for people in need of sleep?" He checked his watch. It was 3:45 am and on a school night too. "I mean, people are in need of their beauty sleep here."

A few days ago, they had just gotten the identity of their new enemy. It went by the name of KAI. Jeremie was still trying to figure out who created KAI and what it wanted. It could possibly be linked to XANA but they didn't know that for sure.

Odd joked, "You and beauty sleep? You must need tons of it then! Ha, ha!"

Leo glared and responded sarcastically, "Very funny, Odd."

"Well, it's a good thing we all woke up this time," Jeremie said. "KAI would've flooded the entire city if we hadn't shown up."

"Well, I gotta go before my parents catch me," Yumi said.

"I'll go with you!" both Ulrich and William said in unison before glaring at each other. Despite knowing that Ulrich and Yumi were officially a couple now, William was still dead set on winning Yumi's affection. It would appear he would never learn.

"Why don't you both go with her?" Aelita suggested. "A girl like her needs two strong young men to protect her honor." William and Ulrich thought that was a good idea as they flanked Yumi. The Japanese girl groaned as her 'entourage' went with her to her house.

"We better go before Jim decides to check our rooms," Leo said. "Believe me when I say I don't want three weeks detention, again!" He glared at Odd.

"Hey, you didn't have to agree to prank him," Odd shrugged, innocently.

"Only because I thought I wouldn't get caught," Leo retorted.

"Well, good thing that Predator didn't decide to come back," Jeremie said with some relief. The Predator was an enigma and a dangerous one at that. The Lyoko Warriors were unsure which side he was on. Sometimes he would be fighting with them and sometimes against them. He didn't seem to be one of the monsters on Lyoko since he would appear and disappear on the radar. Jeremie didn't know what he was but he suspected that another scanner they didn't know about might be around.

"Hey, I could've beaten him," Leo said confidently.

"Leo, you were possessed," Odd reminded.

"Yeah, but still," Leo yawned. "OK, we better turn in. We got a lot of things to do tomorrow."

The four of them then walked back to the dorms. Jeremie and Aelita lagged behind, hand-in-hand.

"Say, Jeremie…" Leo began.

"I am not going to launch a Return to the Past so you and Odd can retake that test," Jeremie cut him off. "Those are for emergencies only."

"But this _is_ an emergency!" Leo whined.

* * *

Another new day came and the usual things came for the Lyoko Warriors. Leo and Odd flunked the test they had wanted to retake, Ulrich and Yumi did their own couple antics, William played party crasher by meeting them at school, and Aelita made some 'personal time' with Jeremie.

The day progressed as the group as they met up in the cafeteria. Aelita and Jeremie had snagged their seat first before Odd caught up with them. Leo and William arrived at the same time before Yumi and Ulrich took their sweet time getting there.

"So any ideas what to do about the Predator?" asked Jeremie

"Well, we have to pin him down if we want any information from him," Yumi pointed out. "We were always distracted or never saw him coming."

"He's exactly like his movie counterpart, though," Odd pointed out. "I bet he has a self-destruct thing in case he ever gets beaten!"

"I don't like the sound of that," William shivered. "That invisibility trick is bad enough."

"What about your 'Clock Up', Leo?" asked Ulrich. "You used it when KAI possessed you." Leo possessed the power to Clock Up. When examined by Jeremie, it gave Leo the power to move so fast that he became invisible. He was a lot faster than Ulrich or William when they both used their respective 'Super Sprint' and 'Super Smoke' abilities.

"I can't use it on him if I can't see him or if he sneaks up on me," Leo replied. "Otherwise I would use it. I can take him without it though."

"Sure you can," Odd nodded as he rolled his eyes.

"Hey, if it was one on one, in a fair fight, he'd be toast," Leo said, confidently. "I just need some new moves. I bet I can give him a twisting Rider Kick before using a Rider Punch!" Leo did the motions with his hands. "Oh, I almost forgot." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He then unfolded it while saying, "Odd has been telling me about your past adventures and that you used to have a large ship called the Skid, but XANA wasted it." He laid the paper in the middle of the table. "So, I took the liberties of designing this." On the paper was the picture of…

"It's a train," Aelita said flatly.

"Well, of course it looks like a train," Leo shrugged. "I call it the Lyokomotive."

"Clever name," Odd commented.

"Thanks," Leo nodded. "Anyway, Odd here also told me that XANA left behind some Replikas of Lyoko all over the world, powered by a whole lot of super computers. I was thinking that Jeremie can program this baby then we can go traveling." Jeremie inspected the drawing.

"It looks plausible enough," Jeremie rubbed his chin. "But a train?"

"And don't worry about designing it," Leo said as he took out a CD, "I already designed a 3D version of it here. I just want you to take a look at it." Leo handed it to Jeremie.

Sissi then decided to become a bother again. Despite the offer to be friends a while back, she had turned more antagonistic ever since Ulrich and Yumi decided to hook up. They were going to have to be wary of her. She could be sneaky when she wanted to. She did have a heart in there; they had seen it and she'd helped them. Too bad the Returns to the Past erased those memories from her. They didn't exactly trust her. Leo hadn't been in the group long and didn't see Sissi as a threat. To him she was a cute girl.

"Hello, Ulrich-dear," Sissi batted her eyes at Ulrich.

"Sissi, I'm seeing Yumi now," Ulrich said, patiently. Yumi was gripping her fork. "So, can you please harass someone else?"

"Oh, come on now," she flirted, "What does Yumi have that I don't?"

"How about a bigger cup size?" Odd suggested.

Leo snorted in his drink, trying not to laugh and blush at the same time. Ulrich turned to stare at Odd, wondering just how he knew that or if he was joking. William knew he wasn't going to touch that statement with a ten foot pole. Yumi blushed madly while Sissi just started getting mad.

"Shut up, you freaky perv!" she snapped angrily before stomping away.

"Bad attitude," Leo frowned slightly. He turned to Odd, "Man, Odd, did you _really_ have to say _that_?"

"Got her to leave, didn't I?" Odd asked.

Leo decided to ask, "So, how do you know Yumi's cup size?"

"Well, Yumi and Odd once switched bodies," Jeremie stated. "It was a long time ago."

"Can we _please_ not talk about _that_?" Yumi groaned, hiding the blush.

"So that's why you were acting so strange back then," William realized.

"Wow," Leo blinked. "Must've been quite the experience."

"You can say that again," Yumi groaned. The memory of being slapped by girls Odd had offended in the past was starting to come back again. Not to mention the newspaper report Milly and Tamiya had made about her and Ulrich when Odd had been in her body.

"Okay, moving on," Jeremie snickered. "Now, what do you think we can do about the Predator?"

"Why can't we just use some kind of capture system?" asked Leo. "I mean, he has to access Lyoko from somewhere, right?"

"Leo's right," Aelita nodded. "One cannot just enter Lyoko on a whim. He has to be somewhere."

"Yeah," Jeremie nodded. "Maybe we can reroute his exit system. Instead of devirtualizing wherever he enters from, we can make him come out in the factory."

"That's our Einstein," Odd grinned.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on Lyoko, within a dark realm, KAI was doing some modifications on XANA's monsters.

"_Mother would have been so pleased_," KAI spoke as the limited light within his domain revealed 'his' form, barely. KAI appeared to be humanoid, with long white hair that flowed down to his feet. KAI dangled in the air and was dressed in a black bodysuit, bearing the demonic skull emblem on his chest. Buckled straps were wrapped around KAI's arms and legs as his sleeves were wrapped tight around its body like a straight jacket. KAI was actually being dangled by the straps in the air.

KAI could see all, monitoring Lyoko through the eyes of his monsters as well as accessing images of the outside world through numerous cameras. KAI frowned with disgust at the humans. Humans were a disease on this pure world. They were chaotic, unpredictable and uncontrollable. They went to war for pointless reasons. It all just agitated KAI.

Then, those 5 humans had destroyed KAI's mother. KAI's mother would've succeeded if those 5 humans had not stopped KAI's mother.

"_Mother…you will be brought back…and you will see…vengeance…_" KAI chuckled darkly. His monitors showed him images of animals and plants. They disgusted him, but yet fascinated him as well. His mother had controlled animals before so why shouldn't he do the same as well?

Rodents…he would target rodents…mice, rabbits, squirrels, anything… He would need to activate a tower to do so and it would lure 'them' here.

He would take the data he wanted from them before destroying them. Yes…His mother would be so proud of him, so very proud.

His eyes, hidden under his bangs, began to glow purple as he set to activate a tower. The Desert Sector seemed like the ideal place for it.

* * *

In the vast sandy surface of the desert region, a lone tower began to glow purple. At the same time, KAI placed the monsters around it to guard, along with a Scyphozoa.

They would come…they would come and be destroyed…

* * *

Within the science classroom of Kadic Academy, a purple electrical specter rose out of an electrical outlet. It headed towards the cage which had the lab rats inside. Another cage housed guinea pigs. The specter then entered all of the small rodents and KAI's emblem flashed on their foreheads.

Outside, in a tree, a squirrel was also being possessed along with a family of rabbits in the woods.

They were few, for now, but give it time…give it time…

* * *

Ulrich was walking to his science class alone. Odd, Aelita, Leo and Jeremie weren't with him at the moment despite having the same class with him. Maybe they were already there and he was just running late. Well, Aelita and Jeremie would be early. Odd, on the other hand…

He and Yumi didn't get to walk together in the halls sometimes since their classes were so far apart and they were in different grades, leaving her with William for company. It didn't really bother him so much, but he didn't like being apart from Yumi after finally beginning a relationship. It was especially sweet after all the time that he had denied having any feelings for her.

As he was walking, a sudden scream echoed from the science classroom. His instincts kicking in, Ulrich dashed to the classroom and opened the door to see what was happening.

What he saw was dozens of rats, mice, rabbits, and even guinea pigs dashing around the classroom, causing chaos. Some of the rabbits were shredding papers and tearing up anything they could get to. The mice and rats were racing around desks, making several of the more squeamish students leap onto their desks. The guinea pigs were tearing away at the books the students left lying around.

As Ulrich opened the door, all the rodents stopped and just stared at him. Ulrich instantly noticed that all their eyes had turned purple.

"Uh-oh," he gulped.

The collected rodents immediately charged at the door, making Ulrich stumble backwards as the tidal wave of fur charged past him and out into the school. He was quick to get up, but the rodents were already gone.

"This isn't good," he frowned. He then took out his phone but it rang first before he could dial it. "Hello?"

"_Ulrich, there's an-_"

"Activated tower?" Ulrich guessed. "I know. KAI's just possessed a bunch of mice, rats, rabbits and guinea pigs."

"_You better meet us at the factory_."

"I'm on my-" Ulrich said before he heard a loud shattering sound and a familiar scream. It was Sissi. He had to play hero now as he got inside to see a dozen squirrels throwing acorns at the students and teacher, Miss Hertz. Rolling his eyes he then opened the door wide and shouted to them, "Out, get out!" They did as told and scrambled out of the classroom before Ulrich shut the door.

"Ulrich, what's going on?" Sissi questioned.

"No time, just get out of here, now!" He then ran off.

"Where are you going?" Sissi screamed at him.

* * *

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!" one of the girls in Yumi's class screamed as the mice and rats invaded the classroom. Mr. Fumet was using the broom to swat them away but they climbed up it and jumped on him, biting him. William and Yumi rushed to help him by getting the rodents off him. Unfortunately, the rats turned their sights on William and Yumi. Yumi was being bitten numerous times while William tried to save her.

"Back off, fuzzballs!" William growled as he kicked several of the rodents away from himself and Yumi.

"Thanks," Yumi nodded as she flexed her hands to get the soreness out. "It doesn't take a genius to figure out who's behind this."

"Yeah, KAI," William nodded. "Looks like its time to spread the word."

"Yeah," Yumi nodded as she reached for her cell phone.

Hunter was swatting the rats away left and right, trying to clear an exit for everyone. While doing this he had heard Yumi and William's conversation. "KAI…?"

* * *

"Yah!" Odd cried as he kicked several rodents away from himself. "No rodent is going to get the best of me!"

Odd had been on his way to Miss Hertz's science class when all of a sudden these rodents started to attack all the students and teachers in Kadic. Currently, he was fending them off and ended up in one of the other classes.

He was scrambling on top of a desk and kicking several of the rodents as they leaped at him. The rest of the class had either run for their lives or were on the top of their desks in attempt to get away from them. It wasn't until Ulrich stumbled into the classroom that the rodents started leaving.

"Oh man," Odd frowned. "I hate rats." He turned to Ulrich, "Thanks, man."

Ulrich said, firmly, "Come on, we got to get to the factory."

Odd leapt off the table and said, "Time to take the plunge again."

Yumi and William ran by them so the two boys joined up with their older friends. Ulrich noticed that Yumi had numerous cuts on her.

"Yumi, you're hurt," he frowned as he ran alongside her.

"I'm fine," Yumi replied. Her skin still felt a bit sore from all those bites. "They aren't infected."

"Well, Jeremie can just launch a return trip to take care of that," William said, smiling.

Odd knew that Jeremie and Aelita were probably at the factory waiting for them now but he noticed another one of their own was missing. "Hey, where's Leo?"

* * *

"This is so not cool!" Leo wailed as he was being chased down by squirrels and bunnies. He had originally wanted to skip Miss Hertz's class to take a nap since he was still exhausted from the previous mission. Unfortunately, the local woodland critters had other plans. Under normal circumstances, he would've thought such animals to be cute. Unfortunately, right now, said cute animals were now viciously attacking him. He had lost his right sleeve to several rabid bunnies and sported bruises due to being pelted by acorns.

"Finally," he rejoiced as he found himself at the manhole cover and pulled it away before going down the ladder, closing the hole as he did. Jeremie and Aelita were probably at the factory by now.

Leo had to admit that being a member of a team of world saviors was cool and all, but he still wished that the attacks weren't so frequent.

He was quickly joined up by Ulrich, Odd, Yumi, and William. Yumi's hands looked a little cut up and Ulrich seemed like he had been run over by something but they all looked relatively fine. All five of them went for the factory so they could get into Lyoko.

As they finally entered he main control room, Jeremie and Aelita could already be seen looking over the display at what was happening in Lyoko.

"Glad you could make it," Jeremie nodded to his friends. "Things have been nuts."

"You don't know the half of it," Leo sighed. "I thought bunnies were supposed to be cute little critters, not rabid death machines."

"Well, the activated tower is in the desert sector so get to the scanners," Jeremie commanded. Odd was already at the elevator, giving Jeremie a thumb's up.

"You can count on us, Einstein," Odd spoke confidently before the elevator doors closed and the Warriors headed down to the scanner room.

Jeremie knew that something like this would draw out the Predator. Unlike all those other times, this time he was ready for him. He then started the virtualization procedure.

* * *

The Lyoko Warriors appeared on the sandy ground of the Desert Sector. The all stood in a semi-circle, wary for foes. After a quick look around, they found that there were no monsters around.

"No monsters to fight," Leo frowned. "What a drag."

"So where is everyone?" asked Odd.

"Probably at the tower," William answered as he hefted his sword on his shoulder. "Like always."

"Be thankful KAI didn't decide a pre-emptive strike then," Ulrich spoke up. "Now let's get going before the situation gets worse outside."

"Then let's go," Yumi nodded.

The Lyoko Warriors all agreed before they began their run towards the tower. They were going to need all their numbers to face down whatever KAI had cooked up for them. From what they had seen this new AI come up with, some luck wouldn't be turned down either.

As they were moving along, an invisible watcher was following them. It was definitely the Predator, watching them.

They soon found the tower, which was not too hard to find since it was the only one glowing with a purple aura. Surrounding the tower were 5 Tarantulas and 5 Krabes. A Scyphozoa also hovered between the two sets of monsters, its tentacles flailing as it awaited to catch any unlucky Warriors. The Warriors were hiding behind some rocks, watching their enemies.

Leo, with his Sword Gasher ready, surveyed their opponents with his enhanced vision. He frowned. "Alright, this is weird," he commented.

"What do you mean?" Aelita asked.

"They're just…standing there," Leo said. "Never a good sign. It's like they're expecting us."

"Of course they're expecting us," William stated. "A tower gets activated, weird stuff happens in the real world, and we arrive to kick monster butt, deactivate the tower, save the day and repeat." He gripped his sword. "Doesn't take a genius to figure out our pattern."

"Are we getting too predictable or what?" Odd said.

"_Just be careful and get Aelita to the tower and away from the Scyphozoa_," Jeremie instructed.

"Got it, Jeremie," Ulrich said.

"So, what's the plan?" Yumi asked.

Leo grinned as the sword blade of his Gasher vanished before he started taking his weapon apart and reconfiguring them. "I'll tell you." He finished the configuration as he got ready his Gun Gasher. "We shoot them down!" At this announcement, his gloves, boots, scarf, chestplate and goggles all turned purple. Everyone blinked as they saw the change. "Wow, neat!"

"Um…Jeremie?" Ulrich asked. "Why did Leo change color?"

"_Well, it says here on his profile card that he can assume different modes, signified by a color change, whenever he changes his weapons,"_Jeremie reported._ "This also changes his stats."_

Leo just grinned as he asked, "Do we destroy them now, guys?" he then finished with, "I don't hear an answer!" before he ran from behind the rocks they'd been hiding behind and charged at the monsters.

"Leo, wait!" Ulrich called.

William smirked, "Hey, the kid's got the right idea!" He then charged after Leo.

"Not William too," Yumi groaned as she watched her friend join Leo in engaging the monsters.

"Well, we won't accomplish anything by just standing around here," Odd said, agreeing with William and Leo's actions. He then ran after his two teammates, leaving Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita behind.

The monsters finally noticed the three male warriors charging. A Krabe was getting ready to fire its laser but before it could release a blast, a shot shattered its eye and then it exploded. Leo had shot it, dead centre.

"Bull's eye!" he cheered. Odd fired several laser arrows to destroy a Tarantula that was about to blast him.

"Don't you mean 'Krabe's eye'?" Odd joked. William sliced a Krabe in the middle before slicing a Tarantula's head off, destroying both simultaneously.

"Hey, guys!" William called. "Let's see who can kill the most!"

Both Odd and Leo shared grins as they began firing at the monsters. The Scyphozoa ignored them and didn't move from its position. Similarly, the invisible Predator was hiding in plain sight. He bided his time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike and claim his prey.

"Why isn't it moving?" asked Yumi with some suspicion, referring to the stationary Scyphozoa.

"Probably the last line of defense," Ulrich answered. "If we get close enough to the tower then I think it _will_ attack."

A loud explosion ripped through the air, signaling the destruction of another Krabe. Yumi, Aelita, and Ulrich looked down to see Leo dancing away from the remains.

"That still counts as one!" Odd shouted in a miffed voice. Apparently he had been aiming for it first.

"First come, first serve, Odd!" Leo laughed as he started releasing more shots at a Tarantula who was trying to blast him but couldn't get a clear shot due to his unpredictable movements. A few shots hit the target on its head, dead centre, destroying it. "Yeah!"

William gripped his sword and spun around, charging up his blade before he swung, releasing an energy blade that cut a Tarantula in half. He deflected a few shots with his sword before leaping high and slicing the annoying Krabe in half. He just wanted to release some frustration after the ordeal XANA had put him through. Nobody controls William Dunbar and gets away with it.

As the three Warriors were wiping out the small army of monsters, KAI was watching through the Scyphozoa's eyes. He wanted to learn more about their battle tactics, their strength and their weaknesses. Aelita was his primary target, true, but he wanted to learn more about his other enemies as well. The human named William had served XANA before the others had saved him and KAI knew the data on William still existed somewhere.

One of his lone Tarantulas was about to be beaten. Well, time to give it an upgrade as he implanted the new programming.

Odd, William and Leo stared down the lone Tarantula as it attempted to fire at them but its shots were deflected by William's sword.

"Alright, let's get him!" Leo shouted as he charged.

* * *

Back in the computer lab, Jeremie saw something shocking on the monitor. He shouted into the microphone, "Guys! Something is wrong with that Tarantula! Guys!" If the data on his screen was right then that Tarantula was about to give them a nasty surprise.

* * *

The Tarantula let out a loud screech, causing William, Odd and Leo to back away from the intensity, covering their ears. Their eyes then watched as the Tarantula began to change. Its carapace turned black and the XANA/Lyoko symbol on its head morphed into KAI's demonic skull emblem. The front legs moved onto the back of the body as a pair of new legs resembling those of a Krabe's grew out of the spot where the original legs occupied. Finally, a tail shot out and grew behind it before it raised the new appendage up revealing a laser stinger at the end.

Aelita, Ulrich and Yumi gasped as the Tarantula changed. Jeremie warned them by shouting, "_The Tarantula just changed!_"

"We can see that!" Ulrich shouted, pulling out his swords. "Let's move!" He ran to assist his teammates, followed by Yumi and Aelita.

KAI's ploy had worked. My modifying the Tarantula into one of his new Skorpions, it made Aelita reveal herself. Of, he knew she was there but she needed her alone so that the Scyphozoa could capture her and acquire data from her. The same could be said for the others as well. KAI wanted their data before destroying them.

The Skorpion screeched as it swiped at William with its scythe-like limb. William blocked with his sword but ended up receiving several shots in the chest and legs from the blasters. Leo shot at the blasters but now they were being focused on him. He dodged but received a shot to the stomach. Odd was firing his laser arrows but they bounced off the new shell of the metamorphosized Tarantula.

That was when Ulrich, Yumi and Aelita arrived.

"Triplicate!" Ulrich called out, summoning his power to create his two clones. "Super Sprint!" he commanded again as all three of himself rushed at the Tarantula, slashing at it. It swiped them away, destroying two of the clones before shooting at Ulrich. Yumi was able to jump in front of him and block with her fans before throwing them at the Skorpion, causing it to stagger. Aelita shot at it with her Energy Fields. Since all their attention was on the Skorpion, they didn't realize that the Scyphozoa was sneaking up on Aelita. No one, not even the Scyphozoa, noticed three small red dots in the shape of a triangle, positioned strategically on the Scyphozoa's back.

The pink-haired Lyoko Warrior didn't even realize that the Scyphozoa was even upon her. They were silent runners which were reliant on stealth. Its tentacles were reaching out to grab her and download all the data it could. Then its master would be capable of using the data for his own ends.

Before the tentacles could actually reach her, the Scyphozoa was attacked by a number of energy blasts. The noise caught Aelita's attention, causing her to gasp and run from the data stealer.

From the source of the blasts, the image of the Predator faded into view. He knew his cover was blown and that he would have to take an active role in the battle now. That suited him fine. The pink-haired one was a protector rather than a warrior anyway. There was no honor in attacking her, especially from behind. The Scyphozoa lacked any sort of offensive capabilities save for its paralyzing tentacles. The Skorpion, however, seemed like worthy prey. The Predator brought out his combi-stick and set his sights on the Skorpion before unleashing a cry and charging. He ran past the Warriors as he began to engage the monster, blocking its swipes and shots with expert precision. The other Lyoko Warriors knew that the Predator saw them as prey, only sparing them on occasion while on other times he would devirtualise them mercilessly. Right now, he was an ally, so they assisted him.

Leo's turbine buckle began to spin as he charged up his Gun Gasher, aiming at the tail. The electrical arches rose up and were absorbed into his weapon before pulling the trigger, unleashing a crackling ball of purple energy which blew off the stinger along with a fraction of its tail, causing it to screech in pain. It tried to stab him with its scythe-like limb but he was able to dodge by dancing away.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd shouted as he shot at the Skorpion's head. It fired several shots at him. "Shield!" he called out, crossing his arms and forming an energy shield to deflect the shots.

Yumi threw her fans and they spun like buzz-saws in the air, slicing off the back mounted blasters on the Skorpion's back. Now, all of its long range weaponry was gone.

The Scyphozoa remained stationary, even after being attacked. KAI wanted it to capture Aelita but for now he ordered it to withdraw. It then floated away but not before capturing an image of the Predator.

Both the Predator and Ulrich were the ones to land the fatal blow as they aimed for the emblem. The Predator stabbed down with his combi-stick as Ulrich stabbed it with his swords, calling out, "Impact!" They then leapt off the monster as it detonated, destroyed.

They realized the Scyphozoa was gone so now Aelita was free to enter the tower and deactivate it. She floated upon the platform before placing her palm on a holographic touch screen.

AELITA

She then entered the deactivation code.

CODE

LYOKO

"Tower deactivated," Aelita said as the tower's glow subsided before exiting.

Outside of the tower, the Predator was staring down the warriors surrounding him. He knew they wanted to fight. He might as well oblige them.

Ulrich and William both teamed up and slashed at him with their swords, which would've done damage if not for his skills with the combi-stick. He deflected their blows and then blasted them with plasma caster mounted on his shoulder, forcing them to stagger backwards. His wrist blades then extended before he plunged them through William's chest, devirtualizing him in the process. He then finished off Ulrich by stabbing him in the head with the combi-stick.

"No!" Yumi shouted as she saw both Ulrich and William being devirtualised. She got her fans ready but the Predator was faster as he hurled his smart disc at her. It went right through her before she was devirtualised before returning back into his hand. As he caught the disc in his hand, he was then shot in the back. He forgot about the ones with projectile attacks. Cursing his inattention, he turned to fight the remaining warriors.

Odd, Aelita and Leo were firing at him with their powers as he used his combi-stick to deflect the ones he could. He was steadily losing life points but at the last second got an idea. As Odd fired another laser arrow, the Predator swung his combi-stick like a bat and swung it at the Arrow which then flew back at Odd, and stuck into his head. "Aw, crud!" he moaned before he was devirtualised.

Leo ran at the Predator, exchanging blows with the alien-like hunter as he shot and kicked at him. The Predator blocked the kicks and avoided the shots to his head while Leo was avoiding the swipes of the combi-stick. Aelita stood back and watched since she couldn't target the Predator while Leo was in the way. She still had some life points left, so maybe she could…

She sang a note which then created a hole under the Predator's feet. Leo noticed the hole and leapt back as the hole expanded, causing the Predator to fall in.

"Nice going, Princess," Leo complimented. The Predator was probably devirtualised by now. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case as a grappling hook shot out of the hole and caught a solid rock. The Predator then propelled himself out of the hole, high into the air, before throwing two shurikens at Leo and Aelita. They didn't see it coming before swiftly being devirtualised.

The Predator looked around at the damage he had done. He had once again defeated the Lyoko Warriors. "At least this time they put up a decent fight." After taking a moment to admire his handiwork, he slid a card through his wrist computer. "Re-"

"_Capture!_" exclaimed Jeremie. A strange field appeared around the Predator.

"What the…!" exclaimed the Predator. The Predator then devirtualized.

* * *

The Lyoko Warriors stood in front of the scanner that would soon reveal the true identity of the Predator. The door opened to reveal a young man, approximately 14 years old. He wore a black t-shirt with the logo for the band "Avenged Sevenfold" on it. He had an armband on that said 'A7X'. He wore faded black jeans and black boots. He had short black hair that was combed back. He looked up at the gathered Lyoko Warriors.

"Hunter?" said William, more than a little confused.

"Uh… hi?" he said, unsure of what to really say. One thing was true though, his identity was now officially blown.

* * *

A/N: The Predator has been captured and his identity revealed. Well, after a Return to the Past, they would all interrogate him.

Also, Leo reveals Mode Purple, activated when he changes his Gasher to Gun Mode. It is based on Ryutaros/Den-O Gun Form. The other modes will appear as well.

The Skorpion, one of KAI's new monsters, has been revealed. We also see KAI for the first time as a humanoid entity. Guess who he's referring to as 'mother'?

I'd like to thank Ten Faced Paladin on his help completing this chapter as well as Shadow Element 13 for providing the character of Hunter/Predator.


	5. Yumi is Leaving?

"I suppose you all want answers, huh?" Hunter said, smiling very uneasily with all the glares being targeted on him. He was now in the computer lab.

"We do, but first we need to do this," Jeremie said before swiveling around in his chair. "Since you know about us, I don't think the Return to the Past will have any sort of effect on you." He faced the monitor, his fingers tapping keys before he pressed 'Enter'. "Return to the past, now."

A pillar of light rose up as time went in reverse to a preset time Jeremie had arranged for them to begin the day.

* * *

The day repeated as usual and once again Odd and Leo had to be lectured about their poor test grades. Back in Yumi and William's class, Hunter could feel himself being closely watched by two oldest Warriors. He knew that they knew his true identity and that there was no way he could weasel his way out of his one except by telling them the truth about himself, his gear and how he knew about Lyoko.

Free period soon came and Ulrich, Jeremie, Leo, Odd and Aelita waited at their usual bench. Their waiting soon paid off as William and Yumi came, bringing along the young man who was also known as the Predator.

"Sit," Yumi said firmly. The tone made Hunter gulp slightly.

"Um…I prefer standing," Hunter said nervously.

"She told you to sit," William insisted, pushing Hunter against the bench as the Lyoko Warriors all surrounded him in a semi-circle. They wanted answers, and the truth, from him and would not let him leave until he gave them.

Sighting, Hunter rubbed the bridge of his nose, "OK, what do you guys want to know?"

"Well, for starters, we want to know how you get to Lyoko without using the scanners," Jeremie began.

Hunter had wanted to keep this a secret, but since he couldn't exactly erase this from their minds, he might as well come clean, "I'm actually the son of a brilliant scientist and computer programmer. I'm gonna keep his name a secret, simply because you guys don't need to know it. I lived alone with my dad, my mom died shortly after I was born. A few years ago, my dad actually stumbled upon Lyoko. He accidentally opened a gateway between Lyoko and the real world, which my dad and I stupidly entered. Unfortunately, the gateway was unstable and began to collapse in on itself. At the last second…" Hunter hesitated. "My dad threw me out through the gateway. The gateway collapsed, locking my dad inside Lyoko."

"Your dad's…in Lyoko?" Aelita stuttered. But how was that possible? Was Hunter's father trapped like hers? Could he still be alive?

"After that, I tried to tell people but they thought I was crazy. I was shipped from one foster home to another until they decided to send me to an insane asylum since I kept insisting my dad was in a virtual world," Hunter continued.

"Heck, people sure don't know how to listen," Odd agreed. It would sound crazy to most people outside their group.

"As to how I actually enter Lyoko…" Hunter held up his wrist showing a small wrist computer, based on the ones the Predators use. "This little baby allows me to digitally transfer myself into Lyoko." He held up a card. "It took me a while, but I managed to transfer all my digital information onto this card. I swipe this card into my computer and I'm transferred directly into Lyoko."

"So, why have you been attacking us?" Ulrich asked accusingly.

Hunter hesitated again, "Uh… Well…" He couldn't really tell them the truth, at least, not until he learned to trust them. "I did base my Lyoko form on the Predator, so of course I'd hunt for decent prey." He noticed the glares he got from the word prey. "Okay, wrong choice of words." He corrected, "A decent challenge."

The group huddled.

"So, what do you think about his story?" Ulrich asked.

"It does make sense," Yumi stated.

"He could still be a polymorphic specter in disguise," Odd suggested.

"Nope, he's human,'" Jeremie said. "I ran a scan just incase."

"So, Aelita, you think it's possible his father and he found Lyoko a few years back?"

"I don't know…" Aelita shook his head. "Maybe…but don't forget, Lyoko was shut down before Jeremie turned it on for me."

"Wasn't that 2 years ago?" Odd inquired. "Or longer?"

"It's possible that Hunter and his father stumbled upon Lyoko as soon as I activated the super computer," Jeremie said.

"But how did he enter the first time?" Aelita asked.

"We may need to ask him more questions," Jeremie said.

"So, you think his story checks out?" Leo asked.

"We should give him the benefit of the doubt, for now," William said.

"Well, I don't trust him," Ulrich muttered.

"Um, guys?" Leo spoke as he looked up from the huddle. "Hunter's gone."

* * *

Hunter went back to his dorm room before throwing himself onto his bed. His cover had been blown. Now how was he supposed to find his dad?

There were still plenty of other things to consider. Now that his secret was known, the Warriors would be on the lookout for him. Not that they would see him coming though. His invisibility ability would work in his advantage. The problem was that they would probably attack him on sight if they even suspected he was there. It wasn't hard to learn about his abilities since they were based off the movie alien called Predator. They would figure out all his tricks easy from it. Worse, if the main computer program drained the data from one of them, then the monsters would start getting wise to his abilities.

"What do I do?" he sighed to himself. He grabbed a set of headphones and plugged them into his iPod. He chose the song 'Seize the Day' by Avenged Sevenfold and turned it onto full blast, losing himself in the music.

* * *

Yumi walked into her house with a sigh. Hunter had escaped without being questioned further. "I knew we should have tied him up," she mumbled to herself. She looked into the living room and saw that several boxes had been packed as well as several bags. She saw her mom and dad walk into the living room, each carrying a new box. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Yumi…We're moving back to Japan," answered her father.

Yumi's eyes widened with a mixture of shock and terror. What would this mean for the team? What would this mean for her and Ulrich? "W…What?" she stuttered.

"I can make better pay if we move back. We leave in two days. He sure to be packed and ready to go by then," he replied.

"I… I HATE YOU!" screeched Yumi as she stormed off to her room. She spent the rest of the day in there, and that night she slowly cried herself to sleep.

* * *

Yumi tried her best to avoid the others that day, at least until free period. She even went as far as to skip class. If her parents asked she'd blame it on _their_ decision to uproot her and take her away from her friends. When that fateful time arrived she met her friends in their normal spot. She'd miss their meetings. She'd miss them even more though. Her friends…

"Hey, Yumi," said William said to the girl he still had feelings for. She still saw him as a friend, and only a friend, "Where were you? I didn't see you in class today. I was getting a little worried."

Yumi was trying her best to hold back tears. Her budding relationship with Ulrich was about to come to a screeching halt. "I'm moving," she said quickly and quietly.

"What?" asked Aelita. Yumi had said it too quickly for anyone to really understand what she had said, but that's what she hoped. She also hoped no one would ask what she had said. No such luck.

"Our family's going to move back to Japan," Yumi finally admitted. Everyone was in stunned silence. "I don't want to, but I don't have a choice…"

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" shouted Ulrich. "I refuse to believe that you're just going to up and leaving! I can't believe that you'd make up something like this!" He began storming off.

"Ulrich, wait!" cried Yumi.

Ulrich turned and glared at her. "I never want to see you again." He then turned back around and stormed off, hoping Yumi couldn't see the tears in his eyes.

Yumi fell down to her knees and finally broke down in tears. Aelita tried to comfort her, but Yumi pushed her away and ran off.

"Damn, harsh, man," Leo said, arms crossed.

"I think I should go talk to him," Odd volunteered.

"I'll go with you," William added. "Someone has to set Ulrich straight." William had admitted that Ulrich had won their little fight over Yumi, but now the Samurai Lyoko Warrior was just giving up. No way!

As the two left, Jeremie sat down on the bench, frowning. What would this mean for the team?

* * *

KAI was suspended in his control centre, watching the events of the world play out. As a multi-agent system similar to his 'mother' KAI was omnipresent. He could see and hear all. Unfortunately, he was currently trapped in this area with only the vid-windows giving him a clear look of the real world.

One of the Lyoko Warriors, Yumi, was going to leave. Smiling, KAI planned on making this departure a permanent one.

* * *

The Next Day….

Yumi stood in front of the boarding gate for her flight. She stood there with her family. Her younger brother was fazed by the move, but not as much as her. She looked around, hoping to at least see her friends before she left. Hoping to see Ulrich one last time.

"Now boarding Flight 618 to Tokyo, Japan," blared the PA.

Yumi let out one last depressed sigh as she turned to enter the plane and leave her life behind. All she could hope for now was a safe flight.

"Yumi, wait!" Yumi heard and turned to see all her friends running towards her. Well, almost all of them.

"Guys, you came!" Yumi said happily, hugging Aelita.

"Hey, we're your friends," Leo said, smiling, "We would be no good if we didn't at least see you off."

"Where's Ulrich?" Yumi asked. Odd and William frowned.

"He's still sulking," Odd said.

William crossed his arms, "Couldn't even get out of bed to come with us."

Yumi turned to look at her parents and her brother, who were waiting. "Guys, I really need to go now."

"Well, but first, take this," Jeremie said, handing Yumi an envelope. "Open it when you get onboard."

"Oh, I almost forgot," Yumi said, digging into her pocket and pulling out a folded sheet of paper. "Can you…maybe give this to Ulrich for me?"

"Sure," Leo said, accepting the note. "I'll make sure he gets it."

"Thank you," Yumi said, wiping a tear, "I'm gonna miss you guys."

* * *

She sat next to her brother on the plane, staring out the window. Yumi's attention was on the envelope in her hand now. She opened it and pulled out a photograph. It was a picture of her and her friends in front of the factory and there was her and Ulrich, hugging.

A tear dropped on the photo. Had she been paying attention to the safety video, she would have seen the purple skull in the corner of the screen…

* * *

Everything was calm inside the air traffic control tower. The computers were running without a hitch and all planes were on schedule for a change. One of the guys in control of the system walked in with some cups of coffee.

"How are we doing?" he asked.

"Pretty well, Bob," another man answered. "Seems we're right on schedule."

"Good," Bob nodded. "Then let's get some birds in the air."

Several people at their consoles were prepared to send some planes into the air when their headsets suddenly began emitting screeches. The people groaned in pain as they removed them.

"What the heck was that?" cried a guy next to Bob.

All the radar screens began to flicker and shut down. Several of the attendants tried to get them going again, but what they got was a large purple demonic skull appearing on the screens. On another monitor, some words began to appear.

ALL FLIGHTS WILL BE GOING AS SCHEDULED

* * *

As the Lyoko Warriors watched as Yumi's flight went into the air, Jeremie's laptop, which he'd bought with him, started beeping, alarming them. Now with Yumi gone and Ulrich wallowing in self-pity, they had to handle KAI without them.

"Great," Leo muttered, "KAI sure picked a time to attack."

"We better get to the factory?" Jeremie said.

"And Ulrich?" Odd inquired.

"I don't think he's in the right state of mind for this mission," Aelita shook her head sadly.

Jeremie spoke, "Now, come on. We better stop KAI from doing what he's doing."

* * *

Hunter was in his room. Now with his identity out to the Lyoko Warriors he couldn't very well just do as he pleased. However, he had a mission and…

His phone beeped. With a sigh, he said, "Looks like it's time." He took out his card and swiped it through. "Digitize."

* * *

Yumi looked out the window and sighed, sadly. Suddenly, the plane began to shake. "Huh?"

Her mother, who now sat next to her after switching with her son, calmly said, "Just a bit of turbulence, Yumi. Nothing to be scared of."

"Right," Yumi smiled slightly and looked out the window again. Her mother frowned.

"You miss them already, huh?" she asked her daughter.

"I do," Yumi frowned grimly. "But, we need to move on, right?"

Mrs. Ishiyama shook her head, "Yes, we do, but we shouldn't forget the people who are important to us."

Yumi opened up the envelope in her hands. In it was a picture of all the current Lyoko Warriors. After Leo'd joined, they decided to take a photo together in front of the factory. She was, as always, standing between William and Ulrich, but her hand was clutched in Ulrich's hand.

A tear fell from her eye as she gazed at the picture. The tears dropped on Ulrich's image.

* * *

It was pandemonium in the air traffic control tower as the workers tried to get control of the situation. All the planes were in the air and out of reach. They couldn't even do anything as the computers worked on their own, the demonic symbol flashing and laughing at them.

"We have to get back control!" one guy shouted. "Those planes shouldn't be up there right now!"

"I'm trying!" Bob shouted but he was knocked out suddenly by an electrical jolt.

"Bob!" his partner, Glen, shouted, but he was too knocked out by a jolt through his headset and collapsed.

* * *

KAI watched in amusement as his plan came to pass. This would surely draw the Lyoko Warriors to Lyoko and Aelita would be in his grasp. Also, it would kill a lot of people if it succeeded. A few dead humans were worth it. They were just stains on this world anyway. A disease. A plague.

He looked towards his other screens and smiled. Those so-called Warriors had arrived.

* * *

Leo was the last to be virtualized before landing in the Mountain Sector. His accessories turned to yellow as he assembled his Gasher into an axe formation.

"My strength shall make you cry!" he announced, earning strange looks from Odd, William and Aelita.

"Where's the tower, Jeremie?" Aelita asked.

"_It's in the west and KAI has several monsters guarding it_," Jeremie reported.

"Any ideas what he's planning?" Aelita asked.

"I'm not sure but I doubt it's anything good," Jeremie sent back. "I'll try to see where the tower's signal is leading to. I might be able to figure it out from there."

"Right, and we'll take care of the monsters!" William said confidently, hefting his large sword over his shoulder.

"We'll make them cry!" Leo exclaimed, earning off looks from, well, Odd.

"_I've programmed your vehicles_," Jeremie said.

The Overwing, Overbike and Overboard all appeared in front of them. As usual, Odd hopped onto the Overboard and Leo got on the Overbike. William got on the Overwing and pulled Aelita onboard.

"Let's go!" Odd yelled out, flying ahead as the Overwing followed. The Overbike raced after them.

* * *

Jeremie sat watching the screens, typing vigorously. "What are you up to, KAI?" he questioned, though wasn't expecting an answer. Suddenly, KAI's emblem appeared on the screen. "KAI!"

"_Don't panic, fleshling. I'm not going to hurt you, yet_," KAI voice from the speakers. It was distorted but was clearly male. It sounded much like the voice of a person possessed by XANA.

"What are you up to?" Jeremie questioned, wanting to know the reason behind KAI's attack.

"_Oh, straight to the point. That's good_," KAI laughed. "Well_, let's just say I took control of the skies_."

"What?"

"_You better hurry. I'd hate to see that female of yours going out in a fiery blaze_," KAI said before his voice vanished.

Jeremie racked his brains, trying to figure out what KAI was talking about, '_Taking control of the skies? What did he mean? And what did he mean going out in a fiery blaze?_'

He then got his answer and his eyes widened in horror, "Oh…no…" He then called up Aelita, "Aelita! Aelita!"

* * *

The monsters: which were Krabes, Tarantulas and Hornets, were being taken care of by Leo, Odd, William and Aelita. The monsters were standing as a barricade between the Warriors and glowing purple tower. There were dozens of them and they were adamant in making sure the Warriors did not succeed.

"_Aelita!_" Jeremie shouted.

"Yes, Jeremie?" Aelita said as she received his voice. "What's happening?"

"_KAI's taken control of air traffic and he's going to make Yumi's plane crash!_"

"WHAT!?" Aelita gasped.

"_Hurry and deactivate the tower!_"

"I'm on it!" Aelita nodded before flying for the tower but the Hornets continued to shoo at her, to stop her. She blasted them with her Energy Fields.

"Laser Arrow!" Odd called, firing his arrows at the Krabe and destroying it.

"Dynamic Chop!" Leo called out as he swung his axe down, slicing a Tarantula's head in half.

William sliced Krabes and Tarantulas left and right with his sword. "Man, they just keep coming!"

"Well, we better stop them and make sure Aelita gets to the tower!" Odd relayed. "I mean Yumi's life depends on it."

"We shall make KAI cry!" Leo called out.

William gave a deadpan comment, "Dude, what's with you and crying all of a sudden."

Leo shrugged, "Sorry, but I was channeling Kintaros."

"Who?"

"It's from Kamen Rider Den-O. I'll tell you all about it."

* * *

Yumi felt the plane tremble again but it wasn't stopping as soon. "Mom, I don't think this is turbulence!"

The stewardess stumbled inside the shaking area, "Please, passengers, remain calm! This is only turbulence!" Suddenly, the alarms blared. "Or not!"

The oxygen masks fell from the ceiling and the passengers hastily put them on. Yumi was scared and so were the rest of her family. She looked out the window to see the engine had blown out. Her eyes widened in horror.

Only one thought crossed her mind.

'_Ulrich…_'

* * *

Ulrich shot out of bed, eyes wide. "Yumi!" He put on his shoes and ran out the door. He had a sudden feeling that Yumi was in danger, but she was in a plane! What was happening!

His cell phone rang and he pulled it out of her pocket. "What's happening?"

"_KAI took control of air traffic and I think he's planning to kill Yumi along with her family!_"

"I'm no my way!" Ulrich hung up and ran out his dorm room, heading straight towards the factory.

* * *

A shot in the back devirtualized Odd. William found himself surrounded by Krabes and before he could shout "Super Smoke" he was overwhelmed by laser fire and devirtualized in an instant. Leo was the only one left, facing monsters before him and Aelita was fighting more Hornets.

"I sure hope Ulrich gets here," Leo muttered, gripping his axe.

Suddenly, 5 monsters in front of Leo exploded and the Predator came into view. "You?" Leo questioned.

"You wanna question help when you get it?" Predator asked.

Leo shrugged. "Um…no." He then cried out, "NAKERU ZE!!" before charging at the monsters.

* * *

Ulrich showed up in the computer lab. Odd and William were looking over Jeremie's shoulder. William noticed Ulrich and sneered.

"So, you decided to show up," William stated.

"Virtualize me," Ulrich said, eyes narrowed in determination.

"Gotcha," Jeremie nodded as Ulrich went down the elevator again to the scanners.

* * *

"Where does KAI get these monster!?" Leo shouted out as he and Predator continued to wipe out KAI's army.

Aelita was flying around, trying to avoid her pursuers. These Hornets were pretty much honed in on her and firing at her rapidly. The pink haired and winged girl zigzagged to dodge them. They were driving her away from the tower.

Ulrich was virtualized in the middle of the battle and quickly drew his swords. "Super Sprint!" He went fast and took down monsters equally fast.

Leo called out, "Clock Up!" and moved at such a speed that he was invisible. More monsters were taken down by his axe at this speed.

* * *

KAI watched his monsters as they were being taken down by the Warriors. He was angered but then remembered that he could at least get rid of one of them. With a smile, he continued to watch.

* * *

The second engine blew out and smoke began to come out of it. The plane started to fall and Yumi clutched her seat as the plane descended, in a straight line, to crash.

'_Please, guys…hurry…_'

* * *

Aelita entered the tower and flew up to the platform. The holographic panel showed up as Aelita touched it.

AELITA

She then entered the code with the palm of her hand.

CODE

LYOKO

"Tower deactivated."

* * *

"Return to the past, now!" Jeremie commanded, pressing down the 'Enter' key.

* * *

The group, once again, stood at the airport watching as the plane flew into the air. Ulrich was there this time. He sighed and turned to his left, "So, you're staying."

"Yep!" Yumi smiled. "Soon, all my stuff is getting moved into the dorms." After pulling some strings, Yumi was allowed to stay in Kadic with Hiroki while their parents returned to Japan. It was a fair arrangement and Yumi couldn't be happier.

"I'm glad," Ulrich smiled, blushing. "And, um, Yumi…I'm sorry about what I said."

"You were upset," Yumi said as she slid her hand into his. "I understand." She then kissed his cheek.

Their friends stood not too far away, smiling. Leo then spoke up, "Looks like a happy ending."

* * *

KAI frowned. His plan had failed and he'd failed to gather data from Aelita. However, he'd gotten data from the battle. He could use such information to his advantage for future endeavors. All this was for his mother.

* * *

The Following Day...

Both Leo and Odd were the first at the group's table with their trays. Leo noticed his friend's frowning face. "Hey, Odd. What's wrong with you?"

"You know, it's not fair," Odd spoke up, arms folded. Leo quirked an eyebrow.

"OK, this is not the usual upbeat Odd Della Robbia I've considered my best friend," Leo replied. "What's going on?"

"OK, let me list it out for you," Odd counted with his fingers, "Ulrich and Yumi are together. Jeremie and Aelita are together. Who am I paired with, huh?"

"So…you're upset because you can't get a date?"

"I'm upset because I can't get a girlfriend!" Odd leaned back on his chair, his arms hanging limply by his sides.

"Didn't you date like nearly all the girls in your grade a while back?" Leo asked, having heard of Odd's reputation.

"And look what that got me. After the first date, they dumped me," Odd moaned.

"Ouch," Leo said as he chewed on a fry. "Well, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." He eyes Odd's tray, "So…you gonna eat that?"

"I may not be in the mood to eat, yet, but I am not giving away my tray," Odd said with a glare.

"OK," Leo nodded. And then he got an idea. "Hey, I know what would cheer you up!" Leo dug into his pockets and then pulled out his hands to reveal. "Sock Puppet Time!" The sock puppets he had on his hands were made to look like Ulrich and Yumi.

Leo started doing their voices, starting with Ulrich's "Oh, Yumi, I love you so much." And then he did Yumi's voice, "Kiss me, handsome." He then meshed the two puppet's 'mouths' together while doing kissing noises.

Odd laughed out loud at the spectacle. His best friend sure knew how to make him laught. Leo laughed too but then he realized something.

Odd suddenly stopped laughing. And thus, Leo stopped too.

"They're right behind me, aren't they?" Leo asked. Odd nodded. Turning his head around, Leo could see an angry Yumi and an angry Ulrich, glaring at him. "Um…hi, guys?"

"Leo," Yumi spoke calmly through her anger, "Kindly put those things away before I break your hands." Gulping, Leo put the two sock puppets back in his pockets, quickly.

"So, where are Einstein and the Princess?" Odd asked, "And where's William and Hunter?"

Hunter had been made a member, only so they could keep an eye on the wayward Predator. He had yet to earn their trust. Of course, Leo already trusted him.

"I don't know about William and Hunter," Ulrich shrugged as he took a seat after pulling a chair out for Yumi, "But Jeremie said something about him and Aelita working on something."

"Wonder what it could be," Leo commented.

* * *

In the blonde genius' room, Aelita watched in deep interest as Jeremie typed several commands with his keyboard.

"You know Leo's going to be happy about this," Aelita smiled. "It's sweet that you decided to take his suggestion."

"Well, the design is sound, so why not. Besides, I was hoping to recreate the Skid, but this looks better," Jeremie replied.

On the screen of his computer was the Lyokomotive Leo had designed. What would this mean for the Lyoko Warriors?

Easy; it would mean a way to fight KAI and once again enter the network in search of clues to KAI's origins.


End file.
